Face Of A Miracle
by Shigure-san
Summary: This fic is a 'what if' scenario. Inu-no-Taishou and Izayoi are alive, Sesshõmaru and Inuyasha get along, and Kagome is from Inuyasha's time. I suck at summaries, please try it. Want to read with lemon scenes private message me to recieve the link!
1. 1 The New Law and the Uprising

Face Of A Miracle

By Shigure-san

This idea has been distracting me from other fics for a while now, so putting it to paper (or computer actually) is the only way I can get it out of my mind, which lets face it, is a bit restricted for space, what with Inuyasha himself making up 99.9% of my brain and everything else cramped into the 0.1% that's left! Any-who, this fic is a _'what if'_ scenario. Inu-no-Taishou and Izayoi are alive, Sesshõmaru and Inuyasha get along, and Kagome is from Inuyasha's time. Actually, it might interest you to know that yet again, this is based on one of my dreams, (yes I know, I'm sad, but Inuyasha's presence in my dreams is the only reason I go to sleep at all - I'm a caffeine nut).

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all it's trademarks belong to Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ, not me. (Dag-nabbit!) But the title and chapters titles, plot, and the characters that have been made up solely for this fic, not featured in the anime or manga are mine.

Enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The New Law And The Uprising

One

Inuyasha yawned wide as the even began to give way into night. The gathering at the castle had succeeded their expectations, but the half-demon was bored, from the start he'd stood loyally next to his mother and father, and older brother, nodding his head and smiling when people spoke to him, but not really listening, nor paying attention to who they even were. The gathering was to celebrate the new law that Lord Inu-no-Taishou had set for the Western Lands, that abolished the old laws and put an end to the feud between humans and demons once and for all, they hoped…

"Can I go yet?' asked Inuyasha lazily as he yawned again, looking around him with boredom. "It's not like they came to see me anyways. What's this got to do with me?" Inu-no-Taishou looked at Inuyasha scoldingly, but said nothing. Izayoi smiled at her son.

"You'd be surprised how much this has to do with you," she said.

"Yeah? Surprise me." Inu-no-Taishou finally turned back to his younger son after finishing a conversation with a guest.

"This law has been passed so that half-demons, like you don't have to be outcast." Inuyasha said nothing.

"But there's nothing to do," he whined, "if I have to smile anymore my jaw will drop off." Izayoi rolled her eyes and followed her mate through the crowds as he left his sons' side.

Inuyasha scanned the crowd, looking for where his parents had disappeared to, but he couldn't see them anywhere. "Can't we just slip away?" asked the half-demon to his older brother. Sesshōmaru smiled.

"Not if you don't want father to thump you one." Inuyasha sighed. "I tell you what Sesshōmaru, you'd better not dare die someday and leave _me_ to do all this boring crap!"

"Of course not," he assured him with a sly smile twitching at the sides if his mouth.

"Yeah, right…you'll die just to piss me off!"

"Well how about this then? I promise to not die on _purpose_?" Inuyasha said nothing to his brother's bad sense of humour.

"Don't elope with some random girl either," he added with a smirk. Sesshōmaru snorted.

"I can't really see myself giving up Father's empire for something as futile, as _love_ of all things." Inuyasha watched him silently for a moment. _How can he say something like that?_ he thought, looking lazily to the door as he heard two groups announced, but he didn't quite catch what they were.

Suddenly Inuyasha's eyes widened, in awe as his golden orbs caught a glimpse of a face in the crowd that had just entered. He had to smile as he watched her tuck her silken, ebony hair nervously back behind her ear, looking around at the crowd timidly. Just as his eyes scanned her form carefully, from her chest, to waistline, to hips, to her legs, he spent endless time soaking up her appearance, drowning in her resplendence, and then he heard someone clear their throat behind him. Sesshōmaru stepped down next to Inuyasha. "See something you like, brother?' Inuyasha nodded, nearly salivating as he noted how the pale kimono clung to her curves. Then he nearly choked as she sensed his gaze weighing on her, and met his eyes. The girl blushed as he looked into her hazel orbs and for a moment the whole room seemed to stop only for them.

"Sesshōmaru?' asked Inuyasha, and his brother leant down from the step he stood on. "Who is that girl?' Sesshōmaru looked at her, and shrugged.

"No idea, but she's human though, no doubt about it…maybe another reformed demon slayer." Inuyasha didn't say anything, but it was hard to imagine her being a demon slayer. "Why? Like the look of her do you?' Inuyasha flushed.

"Shut up!"

Inuyasha turned back to the crowd, seeing his nameless obsession wavering by the entrance to the gardens, looking very overcome, before she disappeared through the archways and into the evening.

"Go on," said Sesshōmaru with a slight smile. "Stop fluttering about like a woman and go after her." Inuyasha smiled nervously.

"What about father?"

"I'll tell him the truth of course. That you've gone hounding after some poor girl." Inuyasha grinned, before leaping down from the steps and slipping through the crowds after the girl.

Inuyasha breathed in deeply as he stepped out into the evening air. The night blooming blossoms where everywhere as he walked slowly through the gardens, checking for where she could have gone. However he found the gardens empty.

Walking over to where he knew the water fountain was, knowing that he could sit there in peace for a while. As he found it however, someone was already sitting there. He tried to hold back a smile as he saw her sitting on the side of the fountain, trailing her fingertips through the reflection of the full moon slowly, the water rippling under her fingertips. Watching her closely, Inuyasha couldn't help but think she looked slightly sad.

"Ummm…excuse me," he said quietly. She shot round suddenly, jumping as she saw him there.

"Oh…" she said, "I…I'm sorry I didn't…Am I not supposed to be here?" Inuyasha's eyes widened, the moonlight reflecting in the water was shimmering over her face, and she looked so beautiful right then, that Inuyasha's breath caught in his throat. "If…if I'm not supposed to be here…I'll go if I'm being a nuisance." Inuyasha shook his head.

"No, that's not it, I…I was just…looking for you." She smiled.

"You know me?"

"Well, no but I – I saw you, and I just…Do you know me then?" She giggled.

"Yes, you're Lord Inuyasha." Inuyasha scratched the back of his neck under the mass of silver silk, fighting a blush; he didn't want her to call him that. "You're the younger son of Lord Inu-no-Taishou." Inuyasha smiled.

"You forgot the _half-demon _son part, that's how most of them name me." The girl cocked her head slightly. After a moment of silence, she spoke again.

"I'm the Priestess from the Demon Slayer's village," she smiled as she thought about her sentence, "well, that's what I am, my name is-"

The girl was cut off as a commotion was heard inside, and they both jumped with the suddenness of the noise. Then the half-demon heard his mother calling for him.

"Sorry, can we finish this later?" She nodded, and he took off through the gardens and rushed into the hall once more. As he skidded into the hall, he saw what was wrong. A horde of demon slayers allied with demons, what his father and the demons supporting the new law called _Revolutionaries_. Pulling his sword from its' sheath, Inuyasha leapt forwards, battling the demons away from a cluster of humans who had got caught up in the middle of it all.

"Inuyasha!" shouted a voice, and Inuyasha turned to see his father fighting alongside his brother. "Get your mother out of here!" Inuyasha nodded, scanning the crowd for her. Catching sight of her, he surged through the masses, and slammed into her, knocking her out of the way of the oncoming blow her attacker was about to deal her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, and she nodded slowly, wincing.

"What do they want?" Inuyasha sneered at the battle commencing around them.

"They're rebelling against us, for setting the new law. They're rebelling against having to treat humans and half-demons as equals." Suddenly the attacker lunged at them, and Inuyasha blocked the swing from the sword with his own, sending the demon hurtling backwards. As the demon pinned Inuyasha to the ground with the sword, the half-demon struggled to keep the blade off his throat. "Mom, get – away from here!' he choked, and she shook her head slightly. "GET AWAY FROM HERE!" He shouted, kicking the demon off him. Hesitantly she made her way through the battle, and Inuyasha watched her until he knew she was safe, and tried to battle his way to his father's side.

He halted in the midst of combat, seeing something out of the corner of his eye. The girl stood in the thick of it, bow in hand, shooting down demons at every strike. As she pulled the arrow tight back into the bowstring, the arrow glowed with a fuchsia light, speeding through the air and piercing the flesh of another revolutionary. Inuyasha screamed as he was smashed in the back of the head, swinging round in anger and beheading his attacker. Spitting the blood out of his mouth and onto the floor, Inuyasha turned to see his father's captain, Katsura, advancing towards the priestess. "NO!" yelled Inuyasha as he dived in front of the attack, shoving Katsura away from her. The girl turned, surprised at his protection, and Katsura looked at the half-demon with confusion.

"Sorry my Lord, but…exactly what side are you on?"

"What?"

"She's a demon slayer!" replied Katsura.

Suddenly it all stopped. Inu-no-Taishou's voice carried throughout the hall, and then Inuyasha realised, that the battle was over. Inuyasha rushed over to his father's side, the demon out of breath, an even gash down the side of his face, across the triangular marks on his cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Inuyasha nodded his reply. "Gather the enemy, I want all of them alive!" his father ordered, and the guards heaved the defeated enemy off the ground, escorting them out of the hall, bound in chains. But what they didn't notice was the few who'd managed to escape the battle, and who crept silently out of the castle, evading arrest.

Sesshōmaru wiped off the trail of blood dripping from his mouth, and thumped Inuyasha on the back affectionately.

"What a rush, haven't had a fight like that for months."

"Sesshōmaru!"

"Sorry, Father," replied Sesshōmaru half-heartedly, and Inuyasha looked about, trying to find the girl again, but not seeing her. Then he found her, and his eyes widened. She was being bound up alongside the revolutionaries. Inuyasha walked towards her, and Katsura saw his movement.

"My Lord?" the demon asked, as Inuyasha tried to make the girl look at him, but she just avoided his eyes, looking at the ground.

"Why is she tied up?"

"Sir, she is…she was fighting with them."

"But I saw her slaying the enemy!"

"Yes, my Lord but, she also killed many of our own…" Inuyasha couldn't believe it.

"What?"

"Ueda, Nakao, Kaji, Kappei…she killed them all." Inuyasha looked at her, still not meeting his eyes, and he watched sorrowfully as they dragged her away with the others.

"Inuyasha?" asked his father, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Leave me alone!"' he snapped, pulling away from his father and storming put of the hall.

He didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. He felt so utterly pathetic as he threw himself down on the fountain edge, looking at his reflection in the water. Seeing the puppy ears drooping slightly atop his silver hair, his golden eyes reflected in the water, Inuyasha frowned angrily. He smacked the water where his reflection lay, turning away from it angrily. _Why did she have to be one of them_, he thought. He sat there a while, his head aching from such deep thoughts.

~TBC


	2. 2 Affliction Violation Salvage

Affliction, Violation, Salvage

Two

"STOP! PLEASE NO!" She screamed, but he ignored her pleas, leaning down to her quivering skin. Suddenly the cell door opened, and in stepped another guard. Tears fell down Kagome's face as she felt his mouth near her skin. Clawed fingertips roaming all over her body.

"Sir." She heard the voice, but her eyes were closed, not able to look at him as he moved forwards to raping her. Then she felt him pull away, and she opened her eyes, the tears still falling.

"What? You miserable whelp, can't you see I'm busy?!"

"Message from Lord Inu-no-Taishou," Katsura sneered, nodding his ascent for the guard to continue with the message. "Lord Inu-no-Taishou wishes for you to release one of the prisoners, to go under his son's protection." Katsura leered at him.

"Which Prisoner?" The fair-haired guard shook his head.

"I don't know the name, just the appearance."

"Well hurry up with it!" the guard looked about the cell, scanning the agonized prisoners carefully, and then gestured.

"Her," Kagome's eyes widened, it was her, and she noticed how pale Katsura had gone.

"But if they get _her_ they'll…which son?"

"I wasn't told, but they said they want her out of this dungeon as quickly as possible," then, it was the younger guards turn to sneer. "Better let me have her, or Lord Inu-no-Taishou himself will be down to get her, and you wouldn't want your master finding out what you do to his prisoners now would you? Especially when he says that they are to be treated humanely."

It was as if Kagome could see his brain working. If he let her go his secret would be found out, but if he didn't he'd be found out. It was a lose on lose situation. Before Kagome knew it, she was dragged down to the ground, and thrown at the guards feet, wincing as she smacked her head on the stone floor. "Take the wench, let Inu-no-Taishou's sons have her as their whore." The guard wrenched her to her feet, and she whimpered in pain. "If she talks, I'll do oh so much more than kill her," Kagome quivered in both fear and the cold air pricking her skin. Katsura stepped closer to her, seizing her throat and locking his fingers around it, "you'll beg for death before I kill you, so keep your mouth shut," he hissed dangerously, digging his claws into her flesh, making her wince as the blood trickled out of the punctures. As Katsura released her, the other guard said nothing, throwing a blanket roughly round her and dragging her out of the cell by her bound wrists. He slammed the door behind her, making her jump, and she pulled the blanket tighter round her freezing, naked body. Being pulled up about a hundred staircases, Kagome nearly tripped at every step, the guard dragging her too fast for her to follow. She stumbled along the corridor, until he paused at a door, opening it. She looked at him a moment, confused, before he pulled the blanket off her, kicking her in the door, and slamming it closed behind her.

Her body hit the floor sharply as he shoved her, and she closed her eyes, her head spinning from the wound she took to her head earlier. Her skin felt like it was being pricked all over with white-hot needles; she was so cold. Distinctly, from her dazed, wounded state, she heard something move, but she still hadn't the strength to open her eyes. The pained girl curled on the ground, crying hard, tears falling fast down her cheeks as she felt someone approaching. Kagome whimpered as she felt someone kneeling over her. Trying to cover her exposed flesh but far from being able to do so, she flinched as she felt a hand on her arm. Hesitantly, she opened her tear-stained eyes, and looked up, seeing silver hair and golden orbs staring back at her, filled with confusion and concern.

Kagome shrank into the corner like a wounded animal, drawing her knees up to her chest whimpering in the pain she was rewarded in moving. Inuyasha watched her carefully, edging closer to her. As he moved closer she flinched again, backing as far into the wall as she could go. The half-demon stopped, watching her with soft eyes, not knowing how to help her. Slowly he took off his kimono, but Kagome not realising this for the innocent move it was, whimpered in terror. Inuyasha knelt next to her, and draped the kimono round her shoulders gently, stroking the stay hairs back behind her ear. She recoiled from his touch as he accidentally touched the gash on her forehead. Inuyasha pulled his hand back sharply with her sudden gasp of pain.

"Sorry," he said, "how'd you get that? It wasn't in the battle, you didn't have it before." Kagome said nothing in reply, she just looked desolately at the ground, tears falling silently down her pale face. Steadily, Inuyasha got to his feet, leaning down slightly. "Here…can you pull your arms round my neck." Kagome didn't say anything, but far from having the energy to resist, leaned into his chest as he scooped her up into his arms.

The girl whimpered as Inuyasha pulled back the sheets on the bed, sliding her under the blankets. "You're really cold," he said softly, pulling the blankets up over her. He looked at her thoughtfully, she was like a wounded animal that had been mistreated by people and was now afraid of everything and everyone; every noise, whether it was the flames in the fireplace or servants passing up and down the corridor, made her wary, and her tired eyes were wide at all times. He sat at the bedside watching her for a while, trying to make her see he wasn't going to harm her. Kagome recoiled again as he tried to stroke the wisps of ebony hair that hung into her eyes, and he sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know? I Promise you can trust me." Still receiving no reply, the half-demon got to his feet, leaving her side. Just as his hand rested on the door handle, he heard her.

"W-w-w-wait…" she pleaded weakly, and he turned to face her, finding her sitting up on the bed, clasping the sheets round her chest. "Please…don't leave me all alone…" Inuyasha smiled.

"I was just going to see if I could find something for you to wear."

"Please…" again he smiled, and approached the bed. His clawed fingertips traced along the covers and entwined themselves loosely with hers, surprising him when she didn't back away.

"I take it you trust me a little more now?" Kagome nodded weakly in exhaustion, fighting to keep her eyes open. "Well, then why don't you get some rest?" She shook her head.

"I don't…I think that maybe…"

"You don't have to be afraid anymore…no one's gonna hurt you, you're under my protection now. So get some sleep." Hesitantly, she nodded, her eyes drifting shut. Inuyasha watched her contently, until he heard her breathing deepen, knowing she was asleep. He got to his feet slowly, placing his hand on the handle once more, when he heard her.

"Lord Inuyasha?" he turned and saw her eyes half open, when she smiled at him. "My name is Kagome." He smiled in return, and quietly slipped out of the room.

***

Katsura shivered as the freezing night air hit his demon skin. He rested against the wall quietly, lurking near the vinery, just below where he knew Inuyasha's window was. He heard a light cough, and turned to see his second in command standing beside him.

"Well?" he asked hoarsely.

"The girl has been taken under the protection of Lord Inuyasha, Sir." Katsura sneered.

"If she tells that half breed why she killed Ueda and the others, Inu-no-Taishou will have our necks."

"And what if she tells the half-demon about what _you _and those idiots do to the prisoners, huh? Didn't think about that, did you?" Katsura leered at him with sapphire orbs through the darkness.

"It's simple, we have to get her away from the mongrel before she tells him." The man nodded. "You know what to do…"


	3. 3 The Two’s Bond Izayoi’s Reflection

The Two's Bond:

Izayoi's Reflection

Three

Inu-no-Taishou smiled as he looked up, seeing his younger son step through the doorway.

"Something wrong, Son?" he asked, and Inuyasha smiled, closing the door softly behind him.

"No, it's just…well, yeah, I guess so." His father looked at him strangely, yet expectantly.

"So?" he said, in an_ at last_ sort of voice. "I expected this to happen." Inuyasha frowned with confusion. "You asked me to let you have that girl, and I agreed to it. But now I…Son, if you take a girl for that reason…if that is all you want her for, then feelings like this will-"

"Hey, what're you talking about? I didn't ask for you to let me have her for _that_!" Inu-no-Taishou's golden eyes widened with surprise. "I don't know if she is a revolutionary, I don't know why she killed those men. I don't know if she is innocent or not but…I couldn't let her rot away like that. I feel like I…"

"You love her, don't you?" Inuyasha's eyes widened as his father's had moments before. "I know, it seems unlikely, that feelings as strong as that could develop over such a short time. But sometimes, Inuyasha, feelings like that can develop in seconds, especially if it's the right person."

Inuyasha flushed, looking fixedly at the ground.

"I only came to…to ask if you could…ask Mother if she could find some clothes for her." Inu-no-Taishou frowned.

"Clothes? But doesn't she-"

"INUYASHA!!!" The half demon started at the familiarity to the scream. He threw open the door, dashing into the hallway. Suddenly he jumped, as he heard a load crash from down the hall. To his horror he knew where the noise was coming from. Speeding down the corridor he flung open the door to his own room, "INUYASHA!" The priestess screamed once more, trying to wrench herself out of the grip of her attackers.

Inuyasha saw that the window was open, and three masked figures struggled to drag Kagome through it. Holding Inuyasha's kimono round her tightly, tears poured down the girl's face as she screamed. Inuyasha leapt forwards, snatching a wrist one of the attackers and twisting it back until it snapped nastily.

"Fuck! You Bastard mongrel!" screamed the masked creature, and at his scream the others released the squirming girl. Landing with a hard smack on the floor, Kagome felt herself being pulled into Inuyasha's arms, and the half-demon stared down the warriors as they stood framed in the window, not knowing whether to give up or not. Daring them to try and take her, Inuyasha stroked the girl's hair softly, not breaking eye contact with them.

"Shhhh…" he said softly, "it's okay." With one final glance, the one attacker gestured to the others, and they turned swiftly, lunging out of the window.

Inuyasha eased as they disappeared from sight, knowing they weren't stupid enough to try a head on attack. He scooped the terrified girl into his arms, securing the shutters carefully, making sure they were locked, before setting her back down in the bed. As he set her down she hissed in pain. Just as Inuyasha looked at her with confusion, the door swung open and his father and brother stood in the doorway.

"Inuyasha? What happened?" Inuyasha looked at the girl for a moment, before looking back to his family.

"Revolutionaries broke in here, they tried to take Kagome." Sesshōmaru's face remained expressionless.

"But why would they?" asked his father.

"I don't know, but I think this proves not everything's as it seems, right?" after a moment's silence, the demon nodded resolutely.

"Just when I thought things would start to be easy around here," muttered the demon, and Sesshōmaru looked at him.

"I warned you that to move forwards with this law would case uproar…" Inuyasha and their father looked at him reproachfully.

"And you'd rather people like my mother, like _me_, were attacked and slaughtered without reason?" asked Inuyasha dangerously. Sesshōmaru looked at his brother strangely at his tone.

"No, I merely said this would not be as easy as it looked; many demons like being superior to mortals and part-demons. There are far more revolutionaries than it would seem, and some are a little _too_ close to home, we know that." Inu-no-Taishou turned to his older son.

"Yes, but I can hardly go to everyone serving under us can I? It could be any one of them. We just have to be careful in these dark times."

Suddenly, as Kagome whimpered slightly, the three demons looked at her for a moment, before looking back to each other. "It isn't the time for talk. I'll put the guards on caution, so we can all get some rest; we'll talk properly when it's a more appropriate time, not the middle of the night." Inuyasha nodded, and he watched as his father and brother departed, closing the door behind them.

As he heard his father and Sesshōmaru's footsteps fade away down the corridor, Inuyasha looked back to Kagome, who wasn't crying, but was fiddling with the corner of his kimono absentmindedly while she gazed off into nothingness, the only source of light now from the fire now the shutters were closed.

"Are you okay?" he asked her quietly, she looked at him, but didn't reply. Inuyasha smiled weakly at her. "I understand that you don't want to talk…and I understand if you don't want to trust me, or us at all, but I…can promise you that I'm gonna look after you." Kagome bit her lower lip slightly.

"I'm not…" she hung her head slightly, her voice slightly ragged, and quiet. "I know I can trust you…somehow, I think I realised that when you…" she trailed off, and Inuyasha traced over her fingers with his own. "When I realised you weren't like those _monsters_ that follow your father…" Inuyasha frowned slightly.

"How's it I'm different?" Kagome shook her head. Looking over her once more, he took in her appearance, every bruise and cut, before he looked at her with compassion. "Will you tell me, what happened to you down there?" she shook her head again, and he leant in closer. Noticing just how nasty the cut on her head was, dark bruising around the deep gash making it look even more painful, and he stroked away her hair so he could examine it closer. She flinched. "That looks nasty, how'd you get that?" she didn't meet his eyes.

"I fell…" she replied quietly, after a moment's silence, "I fell and hit my head…on the stone floor…"

"Of the dungeons by any chance?" she didn't reply, "please, tell me what happened to you down there." As the all too familiar silence fell, Inuyasha pulled the sheets up over her gently.

"It's okay; you don't have to feel like you have to answer, maybe you should just get some sleep." Kagome didn't speak. "They won't try again tonight." Seeing her looking doubtful, Inuyasha watched her hand glide over the sheets to the space behind her on the bed.

"Will you…stay with me?" Inuyasha smiled, walking round the bed to the other side and sitting next to her.

"Here," he said, leaning over and handing her the glass of water from the side table, and smiled at her as she downed it surprisingly fast, before placing it back on the table. "Get some sleep," he said, and she smiled weakly at his mothering tone, before closing her eyes slowly.

For a long time Inuyasha heard her breathing still light, and knew she was still awake, even though her eyes were closed. He didn't know what she had been through, but he felt sure that she wouldn't allow him any closer to her than he already was, lying next to her on the bed; he knew she would think he was forcing himself on her if he tried to hold her or touch her in any way. Turning over onto his side, he saw the punctures on her neck, and frowned slightly. "Kagome, where'd you get those?" he asked, running his fingertips loosely over the marks, her eyes opened, but she said nothing. "They look like – claw marks…did one of them do this to you?" she winced as his fingertips brushed over them.

"It hurts," she gasped quietly.

"Sorry."

"Can I…just…"

"Yeah, sorry I…just sleep, I didn't mean to disturb you." As she closed her eyes again, Inuyasha did the same, but not before distinctly hearing her breathing deepen, as she fell asleep beside him. _She still doesn't trust me enough, to tell me what happened down there. Or maybe she just feels like she can't answer, because of them, not because of me,_ thought Inuyasha, slowly drifting off to sleep himself, _but if I found out they hurt her, in any way…I'll kill them…_

***

The half-demon's eyes drifted open slowly, only to find a smaller frame spooned up against him. Looking down he smiled slightly as he saw Kagome, fast asleep, resting her head against his chest, and he remembered the events of the night before. Brushing the stray hairs from her face and tucking them back behind her ear, Inuyasha took in her appearance as she laid peacefully in sleep next to him, her fingertips fiddling unconsciously with the material of his shirt. _She's beautiful though I'll give her that, revolutionary or not…_

The half-demon's puppy ears pricked up as he heard the door open. Throughout the dimness of the room, he saw his father step in and smile slightly at him. "You scared the _crap_ outta me!" whispered Inuyasha at his father, making the smile broaden.

"Here's some clothes for Miss Kagome," he said setting the bundle on the end of the bed, "your mother will find some more for her when she gets up, I just found these for now." Inuyasha rested his head back against the pillow.

"Thanks." Inu-no-Taishou looked at his son for a moment, sitting on the side of the bed, then looking to Kagome nestled up close to Inuyasha.

"So this is the girl you've fallen for…" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow with suspicion. "She's is pretty though…revolutionary or not…has she told you anything?"

"About why she killed our guards? No Father," replied the half-demon, not liking the distrust in his father's eyes as he looked at Kagome. "And she hasn't told me what happened down in the dungeons, but whatever happened, it made her..."

"What?" asked Inu-no-Taishou.

"The guard, whoever he was, just threw her in here, like some dog, she didn't have any clothes, and she was covered in cuts and bruises – that _weren't _from the battle," he added, noticing his father's expression. "And…she was like…some wounded or abused animal or something, she just shrank away from me like I was gonna hit her." Inu-no-Taishou looked at Kagome once more.

"Well, she seems to trust you now."

"Yeah, but what made her like that?" asked Inuyasha quietly, trying not to wake Kagome. Inu-no-Taishou did not reply. "If I find out they've hurt her I'll fucking rip their throats out…" he mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Inuyasha-"

"No, Father! If it was Mom you'd tear out their insides and rub it in their faces," Inu-no-Taishou smiled slightly.

"Heh, I guess you know me too well, Son. It's a natural trait of a dog demon to be a little overprotective, and territorial." Inuyasha sneered slightly, trying not to smile.

"Don't say territorial, you make us seem like angry puppies that go around peeing up trees." Inu-no-Taishou smiled again.

"You'll learn some day Inuyasha, that the more you love something, the more the world tries to tear that thing away from you." A short silence fell.

"I thought your law was that humans, demons, half-demons, we're all supposed to be equal." Inu-no-Taishou watched him carefully, but Inuyasha avoided his eyes.

"Try not to be so-"

"They treated someone I placed under my protection like some felon!"

"Well, technically she-"

"Well maybe you should discipline your guards because last time I checked, prisoners were to be treated _humanely_! Not kicked and thrown about, and who knows what else!" he hissed. Inu-no-Taishou looked at Inuyasha with an expression very like Sesshōmaru's usual one.

"I know you're angry," he said calmly, "I've lived a long time Inuyasha, and I understand this world a little more than you think I do. I can outlaw prejudice towards humans or part-demons, I can order equality, but I can't change people, you'll understand when you have children of your own, and you're forced to watch them become estranged to the world because of what they are, you'll understand it's not as easy as you see it now." Inuyasha looked down to Kagome as she shifted slightly in her sleep, then looking back up to his father as he spoke again. "Your mother will be in, in the morning to help Miss Kagome bath and get into some clothes, when the young lady tells you what happened down there, _then_ I will do something about it. We can't do this the wrong way, not now, especially not when the tension and hatred for humans is high enough among demons as it is." Inuyasha said nothing. "But for now, control your temper and don't let it out on us, I never raised you to be impolite, do you understand?"

"Yes, Father."

Inu-no-Taishou frowned at him slightly as he got up.

"What's with all this _Father_ talk? You never call me that, I thought you left the _'formal crap'_ – to use your words, to Sesshōmaru." Inuyasha shrugged. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong I just…"

"You think that I suspect Kagome, don't you?" he said nothing in reply, "you think that if I find out she is a revolutionary, I'll have to _deal_ with her." He didn't have to answer; Inu-no-Taishou knew this was the truth. "Don't think so negatively. We'll cross that bridge if we come to it." Inuyasha nodded, and sneered slightly as his father kissed his forehead softly, before leaving the room. _Dammit, I'm not a kid anymore, why does he always do that? He treats me like some delicate little pansy!_

***

Kagome awoke to find that Inuyasha was no longer in the bed beside her. The sheets were tucked neatly round her as she sat up in the bed, clasping them over her chest.

"You look pretty when you sleep." She jumped as she heard Inuyasha voice, and suddenly realised he was sitting on a chair beside the bed. "How'd you sleep? You seem a little less pale than last night." She nodded.

"Thank you…I feel a little better," Inuyasha smiled, getting to his feet.

"There are some clothes for you here, my Mom gave them to you," Kagome sat up and ran her fingers over the clothes.

"I can't take these…"

"You don't really have a lot of choice. Anyway, she told me not to take no for an answer." Kagome smiled slightly.

"But we figured you'd want to bath or something first, the bath's already drawn for you," he said, gesturing to the other door that she hadn't noticed before, which she assumed lead to a washroom or something. "My Mom will be in, in a moment to help you."

"Wait!" she called as he went to leave the room, "Where're you going?" He blushed slightly.

"Well I can't exactly stay; besides, I have something I have to do."

"You're not going to go to the dungeons are you," Inuyasha turned back to look at her once more, "I don't want anyone getting in trouble…and I don't want you to-"

"Why, is there something I need to talk to them about?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, it's just…please…don't…" Inuyasha nodded, leaving the room. _Right, now I know something's up…and it's something to do with what happened down there._

"Father?" Inu-no-Taishou looked up as his sons entered the room.

"Inuyasha, I wanted to talk to you." The half-demon looked surprised, Sesshōmaru, who had followed him in however, did not. "There's been some disorder with everyone serving under us." Inuyasha looked at him expectantly, waiting for a point to this conversation as he sat down. "Is your friend feeling any better?"

"A little, Mom was helping her when I left. Why?"

"The disorder…it's down to her…" Sesshōmaru looked to his brother and their eyes met briefly, before Inuyasha shot up.

"About what? Those bastards are just pissed because she's mortal! They hated Mom when she came here and they hate _anyone_ else mortal that get close to us!"  
"Inuyasha-"

"What happened to your law?! You keep telling us we have to make sacrifices to achieve equality, but all I've seen so far is that the only one _not_ making sacrifices is _you_!"

"INUYASHA!" shouted Inu-no-Taishou, and the half-demon stopped. "You talk about things you do _not_ understand!" Something about the sound of his Father's voice raised to him, that hadn't happened ever before in his memory, made Inuyasha regret shouting before, and fall dead silent.

"I do not pretend that it has nothing to do with Miss Kagome being a mortal, but it is other information also that has caused this trouble…" he said, his tone lowered. "Kagome is a priestess, to a demon slayer's village…" Inuyasha's eyes widened, and even Sesshōmaru looked at his father with interest. "We don't know whether the village is reformed or not but…she is a priestess to them nonetheless…those that serve us are in uproar, because they think that you've taken her as your whore…after the demons of ours she killed, it would be an understatement to say they're angry."

"But why would they think that?" asked Sesshōmaru quietly.

"Apparently because they've found out she slept in Inuyasha's room last night, and they know somehow he didn't make her-"

"Excuse me a moment, for _not _caring," Inu-no-Taishou looked to his younger son as he spoke. "What am I supposed to do? There will always be scandal amongst those nosy bastards, how do they expect me to react to this?"

"You have a choice…"

"I'm _not_ sending Kagome away…" muttered Inuyasha, not meeting his father's eyes.

"I wouldn't ask you to."

"What?" asked Inuyasha, looking up to him.

"I may be a demon, I may act as if I don't, but sometimes I do understand what you two are feeling…" Sesshōmaru and Inuyasha looked at him blankly. "I do realise where your affections lie, Inuyasha. And I may realise them before even you do…because I've seen the exact same thing in myself – more than once before," he added, looking to Sesshōmaru briefly. "I walked in that room last night-"

"I know, I was awake remember-"

"-afterwards, I came back in, and you were asleep…I saw you, when you were with that girl, and I've never seen you so carefree, so at ease since you were a boy…I would not ask you to send away someone I _know_ you have come to love already…" Inuyasha's eyes widened.

"They want assurance from me, that Miss Kagome is not a revolutionary, and I could not give it to them…but if you can…"

"You want me to ask her, what happened?" asked Inuyasha, and Inu-no-Taishou nodded.

"From the reason she came here to when she was brought to you."

"But there's something else," his father and brother looked at him, "something happened to her, down in the dungeons, I _know _it. She had more wounds than she did at the end of the battle, and she was so…weird when she was brought to me…and…just now, she freaked out on me when I told her I had something to do…she begged me not to go down and start up trouble with the prison guards." Inu-no-Taishou looked to his older son for a moment, and then back to Inuyasha.

"Which brings me to another reason for the uproar, your temper Inuyasha," Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "I know you went down to the prison, but bashing about the guards will do you no good until you know exactly what happened."

"Yes, Father," mumbled Inuyasha, turning to leave.

"Oh, and Inuyasha?" the half-demon turned to face Inu-no-Taishou. "If she _is_ a revolutionary…"

"I know…" said Inuyasha, leaving the room. _If she is a revolutionary,_ he thought as he made his way up the halls, _Dad will have to do something about it, and even my affections towards her, even my Dad's desire for my happiness will not be able to prevent it. If she is proven as a revolutionary, and he doesn't punish her, they're will be a mass uprising, and we'll be slaughtered…_ "Kagome," he said aloud to himself, pausing in the corridor, "I'm trusting you…if you're not who you seem to be, I can't ask my father to protect us anymore…" He jumped as a door opened next to him, and he turned to see who was framed in the doorway.

"Lord Inuyasha?" the half demon relaxed as he saw Katsura standing there, closing the door behind him.

"Katsura, you scared the heck out of me."

"I'm sorry sir, but the servants are becoming restless, as are the guards, has your father-"

"Yeah, I know…I'll get ya your damn answers, but I'll do it my way, whether she's guilty or not, she's a human being, and she's been through enough to deserve-"

"A murderer is a murderer; you cannot make excuses for her, Lord Inuyasha." Inuyasha sighed, looking to the floor for a moment, before meeting the demon's eyes once more.

"You are one of my father's most trusted fighters and friends, you have been here even before I was born – so I will be honest with you when I say, that I have feelings for her…" he was surprised to see the demon's eyes widen with what seemed to be anxiety. "What?"

"Forgive me Sir, but…as you say, I've known you since you were born, it doesn't do well to think that everything your father has done to give you a better life, will be thrown away over some murdering priestess."

"She could have killed me last night, she didn't."

"So it is true…she slept with you-"

"No _with _me, just in the same bed…"

"All the same, either way, she's an agent for the revolutionaries; she is wheedling her way in closer to you. Because she knows that there is no better way to get to Inu-no-Taishou than his family."

"It's okay…I've never had responsibility in this house, because I'm half-human, because I'm my father's youngest son, because I'm my mothers _only_ son, I've never had a chance to prove myself…Give me this one chance, trust my instincts, I won't let anyone down…" Katsura nodded slowly, and Inuyasha smiled at him. "So, is there anything else I can-"

"Yes, I…I understand that during the incident last night, there was a window broken in your quarters?"

"Yeah, umm, I'm heading there now if-"

"Yes, I have other things to see to after so…"

***

Kagome winced as she climbed out of the bath, hissing in pain, causing Izayoi to turn to look at her.

"Are you okay?" Kagome nodded. The woman walked over to her as the girl straightened up, pulling her arms round herself. "Here," said the woman with a smile, wrapping the towel round her. Kagome avoided her eyes, feeling both awkward, talking to – well, someone superior to her, and embarrassed of how much Izayoi might know about everything that had happened. _Does she think I'm a revolutionary? Or maybe she knows about what happened in the dungeons. I can't even look at her_, she thought, trying not to flinch as the towel scraped over some of her nastier wounds. "Sorry, I forgot how injured you were," Kagome recoiled slightly, and Izayoi looked at her with pity that Kagome couldn't bear.

"It's fine, I'm not that injured, I just have delicate skin is all…" she said quietly, but if she had raised her eyes to look at the woman, she would have seen that she wasn't fooling anybody. "It's okay…you don't need to put yourself out for me…you don't need to go to so much trouble over-"

"I'll help you into your dress, and then I'll do your hair for you…if you want…" Kagome looked at her for a moment in confusion._ Why is she helping me?_ "Inuyasha said not to push with you…if you need me to leave you alone a little, just ask…" Kagome said nothing. "My son just worries a lot," said the woman with a smile, "that's how he shows he cares."

It took them a while between them to get Kagome dressed, Izayoi being careful and halting every time Kagome winced or betrayed any signs of pain. "So many bruises and cuts, what happened to you…?" asked Izayoi, running her fingers over the nasty looking bruise at the base of her spine. Kagome flinched. "Sorry," she said. "There, see, wasn't all that effort worth it?" Kagome frowned slightly as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"I don't think it suits me very well…" she mumbled, Izayoi smiled.

"Don't be silly…"

"I don't think I'm pretty enough to wear it…"

"Nonsense, here," she pressured the girl's shoulders, and Kagome sat in the chair she stood in front of, the woman weaving her fingers between the girl's ebony tresses, pulling some of the front strands back and braiding them together. _I don't understand, why is she being so nice to me? She should hate me, and yet it seems like she…trusts me? _Kagome looked at the woman's reflection in the mirror as she braided the strands of hair behind her head. She had long dark hair not unlike her own, but hers was longer in length, and straighter, dark eyes so very unlike Inuyasha's, and yet Kagome could fully appreciate that this was his mother, so very _like_ him were her mannerisms, he looked like his father but acted like his mother. _Maybe that's why she trusts me…because she trusts Inuyasha._

"You know that Inuyasha is my only child, right?" asked Izayoi, her voice suddenly, sullen, and quiet.

"Yes…"

"He always says that Inu-no-Taishou treats him like a baby, but…the truth is, he treats him so because of me…" Kagome looked at her face in the reflection of the mirror, seeing her eyes turn glassy. "It's nice…I never had a little girl so…I love Inuyasha, and I wouldn't trade him for anything, but…it's nice to have someone to do this stuff with…" Kagome stared at Izayoi's reflection still, _so that's it, she's treating me like this because she never got to have girl? But why me, she's only just met me_. "I guess I see myself in you…a mortal, who is bound to a demon, and receives nothing but pain because of that bond…I know how it feels, Kagome…"

"What?"

"I know how much it hurts, and how much more it will hurt in days to come. You think it hurts today, it will hurt so much more tomorrow, and somehow, you already know that inside, don't you?" Kagome lowered her head. "But I know how it feels to feel that pain – but to know that you'd sooner die than give up the pain, the suffering; because that means you have to give up on the person you love more than anything…" Kagome felt tears build in her own eyes as she watched that same reflection. _She always seems so happy, but…she must have been carrying this feeling inside for so long, and had no one to talk to it about…that must have felt so awful…_

"I hated it here," she continued, and Kagome listened, "Inu-no-Taishou knew that…and so when I fell pregnant, he took me to a sanctuary of sorts, so I could have as less stress as possible during the pregnancy."

"I'm sorry, Lady Izayoi, but…why did you hate it?" asked Kagome, secretly knowing the answer.

"You think it is awful here for humans now…back then, it was worse, especially for Inuyasha and I…to think that their leader, had affection for something less than demon, it was a disgrace, and they exercised their feelings about that in every way they could on me and Inuyasha…"

"So…what happened?"

"The night Inuyasha was born…there was an attack on the village I was in; Inu-no-Taishou was away, I believe with Sesshōmaru, I was killed..."

"What?!"

"I was brought back - Inu-no-Taishou made sure of it, but…"

"Your baby was killed?"

"No, no, nothing like that…the baby was born, before I died…but…where the sword hit me…I couldn't have anymore children…" Kagome's eyes widened, _oh my god, she must have felt so awful._ "So naturally, I…the baby that I gave birth to, was Inuyasha…so you see; Inu-no-Taishou treats him like a baby, because he is _my _baby…if he allowed Inuyasha to take part in battles or – he knows it would kill me if something happened to Inuyasha. He isn't just my son…when I was brought back here, afterwards, Inuyasha was the only thing here that made me feel like I could bear it. We came here because it was too dangerous to stay anywhere else, but having Inuyasha there, I felt happier, he suffered, I suffered, because he was part human he didn't fit with demons, but because he was part demon he didn't fit with humans. He didn't fit anywhere because of his blood, and I didn't fit anywhere because I was Inu-no-Taishou's mate…so, we fit together, if you get my meaning." Kagome nodded. "I don't mean to push you…but I've never had anything resembling a daughter, and I've never had any woman who will talk to me – because everyone here are demons, and resent the fact that I'm here. I don't care who you are but, somehow, I know you're not a revolutionary, and I don't believe that you are a murderer either." Kagome nodded slightly. "Look at me, I think I went a little overboard there," she smiled down at the girl, "here what do you think then?" Kagome looked up, looking at her reflection, a slight smile playing at her lips.

***

Inuyasha knocked at his bedroom door before entering, but no reply came, he opened the door and stepped inside, looking about the room, finding Kagome and his mother standing there. His golden eyes widened.

"Ka…Kagome?" Izayoi smiled at her son's expression, he was dumbstruck. Kagome flushed, avoiding the half-demon's eyes.

"It doesn't suit me…I'm not used to wearing pretty things like this…" Inuyasha snapped out of the alternate reality that he seemed to have lost himself in.

"No way you look…" Kagome nearly jumped as he stepped suddenly towards her as he spoke, taking in her appearance. Her dark bangs hung elegantly down either side of her face as some hair was braided back out of her face, the rest flowing free, the pink yukata clinging to her figure making them both flush a dark crimson.

"You look really beautiful…" she smiled at him, not as sincere as he'd hoped for, but she smiled nonetheless.

"Thank you. Your Mother made a girl out of me." Inuyasha looked back to his mother, smiling at her.

"Inuyasha?" asked Izayoi, "can I speak with you a moment?" Inuyasha nodded, leaving Kagome's side. Suddenly Katsura shut the door behind him, and Kagome clung to Inuyasha's hand slightly as she froze with fear.

"Kagome? What is it?" the half-demon asked, looking at her with confusion.

"Please, just…don't leave me…" she muttered for his ears only, not wanting Katsura to hear her, fearing the threat he'd promised he'd go through with if she said a word…

"I'll be back in a second…"

"Please…" Inuyasha stopped and smiled reassuringly at her.

"I'll be in the next room, call me if you need me…" _but that's the problem, he'll __**kill**__ me if I do, _she thought, as he left the room with Izayoi, leaving her with Katsura.

Katsura's mouth twisted into an evil smile.

"How are you priestess?" Kagome sneered at him.

"Stay away from me…"

"I couldn't get you away from Inuyasha that way," he said, gesturing with his hand to the broken window. "But never mind, at least this way I can have some more fun…" her eyes widened with horror as he stepped towards her. She winced as he seized her throat, pinning her noiselessly against the wall. "Now behave yourself," he said with a false kindness, "or I'll have to go through with my threat…" Kagome whimpered, holding back tears as he lifted her yukata up, pressuring her nub through her panties. She tossed her head to the side, biting into her lip to hold back any utterance. "I know I'm making you feel good, don't try to deny it…"

"You bastard…" she spat at him, and his grin widened, as he scraped his claw over the inside of the tops of her thighs, making her hiss with pain as they drew blood. "Keep your mouth shut…and come to the main washroom on the second floor, tonight, at midnight, _understand_?" he asked, pressing her nub harder, and she nodded, trying not to cry. "And you are to say nothing of anything to anyone…come to me when Inuyasha is asleep, got it?" she nodded again, and his smile boarded even further. "So obedient, I like this new you, Priestess," she whimpered as he ran his tongue over the claw marks in her neck, sucking softly, he looked behind him as he heard Izayoi and Inuyasha returning, "Remember what I said," he muttered, leaving her and going to the broken window.

"How's the window?" asked Inuyasha to Katsura as he and Izayoi returned. Katsura smiled at him.

"It'll be fixed in a moment." Inuyasha nodded, looking to Kagome, and his eyes widened, as he saw her looking very pale, and sliding down the wall to a crumpled heap on the ground.

"Kagome? Kagome!" he rushed over to her side, Katsura looking on with a satisfied expression, but to his fault, Izayoi caught him. "Kagome what's wrong?"

"Nothing I just…dizzy, I'm…"

"Do want to get some fresh air? I can-"

"Yes," she answered almost immediately, not wanting to be in a room with Katsura any longer. Inuyasha nodded, helping her to her feet, and walking her out of the room. For a moment, Izayoi lingered, meeting Katsura's eyes, and he looked back at her with suspicion in just how much she knew.

"My Lady?"

"Inu-no-Taishou may trust you, but I'm not so easily fooled…I'm watching you…" Katsura bowed his head slightly as she left the room. _And what do you think will become of you if you pose a threat to me, Izayoi…it seems Kagome is not the only one who needs to be dealt with…_


	4. 4 Innocence

A/N: I've edited this chapter slightly to make it less graphic so that I could post it on without getting told off - i dont think you can post sex here lol XD Least ya couldn't way back when i first made this account lol. If ya wanna see the untouched originals then please ask and I will Personal Message them to you, since proper sex scenes happen in chapter 6 and a bit later on too ^_^

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Innocence

Four

Kagome took in a deep breath of air as Inuyasha lead her out into the gardens. She noticed how closely he was watching her, as he sat down on the edge of the fountain, her sitting beside him, hands still in his. _What am I going to do?_ She thought, _he told me to go see him…and if I don't he'll do __**worse**__ than kill me…and Inuyasha won't want me anymore…_ Her eyes turned glassy, _he wouldn't even be able to bear to look at me…and I couldn't stand it!_

"Kagome?" he asked, and she looked up at him.

"I'm fine, really I'm…fine." Looking about her she realised something, and met his gaze once more. "This is where I first spoke to you," he nodded and smiled. The sunlight shone down on the two and the gardens, occasional cherry-blossoms drifting down from the trees to the surface of the fountain's waters, following the ripples as Kagome watched them, not being able to meet Inuyasha's eyes.

"I know that there are things you aren't telling me…" Kagome looked up to him. "My Father's followers will rebel if I can't assure them you are not a threat to us…but I can't do that…if you don't tell me what happened." She said nothing, as good as he and his family had been to her, she couldn't have them look at her the way they would if they found out…or what Katsura would do to her if she told them. _I can't, _she thought, _even if they send me away, even if they get rid of me or punish me for being a revolutionary, it's better than dealing with whatever Katsura will do, or what they'd think!_

"But if I can't assure them…if they make you undergo the penalty for being a revolutionary, I'll help you…"

"What?"

"My Father won't be able to help us anymore; if I can't assure them you're not a threat…I'll have to protect you on my own."

"But, you're father will-"

"I'll take you away…if they rebel against us, they won't be able to blame my father that way, and you'll be safe."

"But you're family are here, you can't just-"

"I told you, if nothing else, you can trust me…the followers want to know _everything _that happened, I'm only asking one thing…" he looked at her a moment, holding her gaze, before he continued, "are you a revolutionary?" She bit her lip slightly, looking as if she may not answer.

"All I can tell you is that I'm the Priestess to a Demon Slayer's village, a _reformed_ demon slayer's village…and I was sent here to warn your father about revolutionaries. That's why I killed those demons…they were a handful of the demons whose names I was given, they tried to kill me…and keep me away from you because of that…but I am not one of them…" Inuyasha nodded, with a slight smile.

"When you say _'handful' _I take it that means that there were more, and they're still alive, and in our midst?" She said nothing, but he knew the answer. "And you won't tell me anymore because they told you not to…or you're afraid of what they'll do?" again, she remained silent. "I don't know how I can help you, or what exactly I can do for you, if I don't know what's wrong." She tightened hers fingers slightly round his, and he looked up to her.

"Can you…that is…will you kiss me?" she asked quietly.

"Huh?"

"That's what I want you to do for me…" for a moment he thought she was joking, and when he saw she was quite serious, he smiled slightly at her. She blushed as he ran his fingers over her cheek and into her hair, drawing her closer, pressing his lips against hers softly as she closed her eyes. _At least I can remember…whatever Katsura does…my first kiss was perfect, _she thought, _that's the only thing he can __**never**__ take away from me…_

***

She had barely been able to stand it later on, as the half-demon wished her sweet dreams as he drifted off beside her. Kagome had even kept Inuyasha awake as long as possible without causing suspicion, desperate to delay her meeting with Katsura as possible. Inuyasha still not feeling she'd let him hold her, was dozing off next to her, as she fiddled nervously with the trim on the white kimono they'd given her to sleep in. _Maybe I should just say Inuyasha didn't go to sleep…no…he'll ask him, and he might even go as far as to come get me if I'm too late_, no matter what she thought, she couldn't bear to get up off the bed, even though deep breathing of the half-demon told her he was already fast asleep. _What if he tries to – no, I have to go…if I don't he'll…_

Not able to finish thinking that, as she had already decided what she was going to do. Slowly she sat up, gazing at the sleeping half-demon's peaceful face. Careful so as not to wake him up, she crept over to the desk drawer across the room, pulling the parchment towards her, and scribbling across it quickly, what she had planned to. Still quietly, she tiptoed over to the bed once more, folding the parchment in half and leaving it on the pillow beside Inuyasha, placing a kiss on his cheek. _Whatever happens…I love you…_ she thought, opening the door slowly, and closing it behind her, as she crept into the dark corridor.

_Which way's the way out? _She thought, looking about her in the dimness, going down the stairs slowly so as not to cause any noise. As soon as she got to the bottom of the flight of stairs, she realised this was the lower hall, where the servants and guards or anyone below Inuyasha's family had their accommodations and washrooms. _Right, only one more floor to go, but I have no idea where the next staircase to go down is_…

Suddenly she jumped a she felt a hand over her mouth, and she was dragged backwards. All within a split second she found herself on a cold stone floor, and heard a door being closed carefully behind her. Looking up from the ground she saw Katsura with a sinisterly calm look on his face as he stepped into the moonlight.

"Planning on taking a walk were we?" she said nothing, shying backwards away from him, but he followed her. "You didn't think I'd let you escape did you?" Kagome swallowed hard as she found herself backed against a wall, and he stopped directly in front of her. "Get up." She didn't move. "You remember our _arrangement_ don't you?" she nodded slowly. "You have to behave yourself or else…now get up." Unenthusiastically, she slid up the wall to her feet, avoiding his eyes.

"Good girl..." he mumbled lustfully, pressing himself against her. "Undress…" he ordered quietly, "quickly!" Not being able to look at him, she avoided his eyes as she slowly stripped herself of the white kimono. She rested unsteadily against the wall, closing her eyes, trying to stop the tears of disgrace as the clothing fell to the ground and he smirked at the sight of her exposed flesh. She winced as his fingertips traced over her collarbone, fingers splaying slowly down her sternum. The girl flinched as his fingers travelling lower and lower. She didn't want this; this was something you were only supposed to have with the person you love. _Inuyasha, _she thought, tears trickling down her cheeks as the demon leant against her, his body heating rapidly....

"Oh so sweet nectar," he whispered into her ear, "I've never tasted anything like it."

"You bastard…"

"Really…? Some other factor tells me this innocent side is just an act…"

She cried out in pain as he shoved her roughly to the ground. Kagome felt his gaze weighing heavy on her as she sat up on her knees, and she looked nervously up at him, uneasy as she watched his mouth twist into a cruel smile, slowly untying the sash of his kimono. Kagome turned her head away as his clothing dropped to the floor, eyes widening as he spoke. She looked up at him, praying she had misheard him. "Touch me…" he repeated, her eyes widened on horror, and she turned away once more. "You can go afterwards…and I won't bother you for a few days…but do it now, or I'll have to tell Inuyasha what you've just done…" she bit into her lower lip, _I'll leave afterwards, but I can't have Inuyasha remember me like that…I have to do it…_

It felt like an eternity, a cruel, fiery, hell that had frozen over. She did as she was told, cringing with disgust...

He released her and she dropped down onto her hands and knees, coughing hard. He leant down with a wide grin. "If you vomit it up…I'll make you do it again," she winced, trying to hold down the puke. "I'll do it again and again until you keep it down." After a moment, in which he watched her carefully, she managed to hold off vomiting, though still choking and spluttering from the potency of the seed; she flinched as he got to his feet, dressing quickly. "I trust you can find your way back to Inuyasha without getting caught _and_ that you'll keep _silent_?" she said nothing, choking on her tears, as she collapsed into a shivering heap on the floor. "Oh, and by the way," he added, looking carelessly over his shoulder to the quivering heap on the ground, "the guard has been doubled, so I wouldn't try to escape if I were you…it would only make you look like you were trying to escape punishment, and you'd be found guilty…" With that he left the dark washroom, closing the door behind him.

Kagome closed her eyes, letting the tears fall as she whimpered on the floor, _he's gonna keep coming after me…I tried to escape…even if it meant leaving Inuyasha...I tried…I can't take it anymore…_

"Just let me die…" she whimpered, getting back to her hands and knees, the tears falling onto the cold ground as she tried not to break down completely. The door opened once more, quietly, and she forced back the vomit as it crept up inside her, Katsura told her to hold it down, and if he saw her puke she'd have to endure it again. _I'm disgusting, _she thought, but even as she felt him approach her it became too much, and her throat wretched as she heaved. The tears continued to fall even after she'd puked up the revolting substance, she could still taste him in her mouth. The demon knelt down beside her, and she recoiled from him. "Please…no, I tried to…I tried to hold it but I couldn't…please don't make me do it again…"

"Kagome?" her eyes widened and she lifted her head weakly to see Inuyasha kneeling next to her, not Katsura.

Kagome shook her head violently as he tried to near her. "You scared the shit out of me," he scolded her with a hushed voice. "I woke up when my Dad came in my room, and you were gone, and I found this – " he held the letter out, " – this note, saying you were leaving, but when I ran down the stairs to stop you, I smelt your scent in here. What's going on?" She shook her head again. "Why are you sitting here naked, crying your eyes out?"

"I tried to leave…" she muttered between sobs, "but he stopped me…and I…I didn't want you to think I was…so I had to…" she broke off, her throat retching again. Inuyasha held her hair back out of her face, rubbing her back softly as she heaved once more.

His eyes widened as she threw herself into his arms afterwards, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Tell me what's wrong." She shook her head, continuing to cry. She wanted to tell him, but she felt so degraded that she couldn't force up the words. "Hey," he said softly, steadying the trembling girl in his arms, delicately stroking the stray hairs from her face and leaning down to her. Kagome recoiled, pushing him away, and he looked at her with confusion.

"No…don't...please don't…"

"What's wrong?"

"Don't kiss me…I don't want you to taste it…"

"What?"

"I can still taste it…it makes me feel sick…I'm sick…" Inuyasha pulled her against his chest, ignoring her struggling. Slowly she stopped fighting him, sobbing into his kimono. "I'm sick of fighting…I'm sick of this…just finish it…please, end it…" Inuyasha rested his head on top of hers, kissing her hair softly. Slowly he ran his fingers down her back, feeling her flinch, and he examined her skin closely.

"All these bruises, Mother told me you had lots of wounds, but some of these are new…" She bit back her tears, hiccupping slightly, as he swept her hair off her neck, finding the punctures in her flesh that Katsura had left there earlier. "Those are teeth marks!" Kagome pulled away, but he held her still. "Someone has been doing this to you…tell me who it is!" She shook her head.

"I can't…if you find out…"

"I'll make him pay! I'll make him stop!"

"If you knew what he'd done, you won't want me anymore…" Inuyasha's eyes widened, and he sat back slightly. She lifted her head to see his expression, her arms folded awkwardly over herself. "It's true isn't it?" For a moment it looked as though he may not answer, but then-

"Don't be so stupid…" a long silence fell, and then she spoke once more.

"I explained why I was here in the letter, I told you everything-"

"No, you didn't tell me everything, like the remaining revolutionaries' names, and what happened down in the prison…or what's been making you like this…" he ran his fingers over the punctures in her flesh, and he realised she was trembling still. She looked at him as he wrapped his kimono round her quivering, naked form, and she leant into his embrace.

"I'll tell you…please…in the morning…but I can't…now…" Inuyasha nodded, stroking her hair gently, surprised as she nuzzled into his embrace even further.

"In the letter…you wrote…did you mean it?"

"What?" she asked weakly, not moving.

"You said you loved me…" she closed her eyes, falling completely into his arms.

"I meant it…" she said softly.

Before he could react, the door swung open, and he looked up, seeing his father, mother and Sesshōmaru framed in the doorway.

"You found her?" asked Izayoi. Inuyasha nodded, noticing the strange looks Kagome was receiving off his family.

"Someone raped her…" he said, dangerously calmly, "and when I find out who it was…I'll rip him apart…" Inu-no-Taishou looked at him.

"She didn't tell you who it was?"

"She said she would, but…she's exhausted and…" he got to his feet, scooping the unconscious Kagome into his arms. "I think she's made herself ill, because of all this," he said as he passed his family. "I'll be in to see you in the morning…and then you can make some punishments for your revolutionary spies, and some apologies to Kagome…" With that he left their sight, and the three of them looked at each other.

"If he finds out who did this to her," mumbled Sesshōmaru, "Inuyasha will make them beg for death before the end…"

TBC


	5. 5 Retribution

Enjoy and review people!

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Retribution

Five

Kagome whimpered as she came to, looking around her, her vision slightly hazy. She found herself lying in Inuyasha's bed once again, the sheets tucked round her. She found that Inuyasha was lying next to her, his elbow propped up on the pillow, head resting on his hand. He was watching her intently. He gave her a warm smile when she opened her eyes, and she tried to give one in return, far from managing it.

"You've been watching me this whole time?" he nodded in response, stroking the rebellious hairs back behind her ear. Slowly but surely, all memories of last night returned, and that sickened feeling returned with them, along with the foul taste of Katsura.

"Here," he said, handing her a glass of some strange coloured juice. She took it slowly.

"Thank you," was said before she downed the first mouthful. She was surprised at the sweet taste, and smiled at him. "What is it?"

"Mom said you should have something high in sugar after you puked like that. Do you like it?"

She nodded, the taste sweet and stronger than the foul, salty flavour of the lingering aftertaste of Katsura's essence.

Again that warm smile was rewarded her when she handed him back the empty glass. He cupped her cheek with his hand, and continued to smile. "Will you let me kiss you now?" he asked, and her eyes widened as she blushed, but she nodded without hesitation. The girl whimpered as he placed her with a chaste kiss, so soft was his touch that she trembled under it, and he pulled back a little, stroking her nose with his. "What's wrong?" she shook her head with a slight smile.

"Can you just…why won't you hold me?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened slightly.

"I didn't want to push…"

She looked away from him, and he saw why. Tears glistened as they ran down her cheeks. "What's wrong?"

"I know…I know I promised to tell you but I…I can't…"

Inuyasha sighed, pulling her against his chest, and she leant into his arms further.

"I can't help you anymore…I can't stop this pain if I don't know who's causing it."

"But I can't…"

He sat up and she looked at him in confusion.

"Last night you said you loved me."

She avoided his eyes before replying.

"I do…"

"And I love you too, Kagome, more than you can imagine, so tell me what happened." Still no answer, he tilted her head to look at him. "I want to see your smile…I want to watch you being happy, I want you to laugh…but I can't help you do that, if you won't help me…"

Suddenly the door opened, and Inu-no-Taishou, Sesshōmaru and Izayoi stepped in slowly.

"You're awake then, Miss Kagome," Inu-no-Taishou said as he walked towards them, stopping at the side of the bed. "I don't know what to say, except I'm sorry…I treated you like a murderer, like a criminal, when all this time you've suffered just to come here and warn me."

Kagome bowed her head slightly, and Inuyasha squeezed her hand softly, making her raise her eyes to Inu-no-Taishou. "I will make amends for my mistake, I swear…but I want you to be able to move past it…I want to be able to see you well. So can you please tell Inuyasha, and me, and Izayoi and Sesshōmaru, what happened, so we can get justice for what you've suffered, and so you can feel safe in this house."

A long silence fell, in which Inuyasha watched the tears stop falling from her eyes, they watched her closely, finally seeing her nod in response to Inu-no-Taishou's question.

"The reformed demon slayer village, the one where I belonged, they were invited to join an attack on Lord Inu-no-Taishou, on the night of the New Law gathering, but they refused, and sent me here to warn you about those who were known by name, who were spies amongst you. But…in the distance as I rode here, I watched the village go up in flames…the revolutionaries had decided to make sure we could not warn you, but they had not counted on my escape…" her eyes turned glassy once more, and Inuyasha stroked her hand with his thumbs reassuringly, before she continued.

"And when I arrived here, the gathering was already in full swing…I tried to make my way to you, but I got overwhelmed and overheated with all the things going on, and I went into the gardens, where Inuyasha followed me. Their first mistake was then. They'd seen me enter, and launched the attack so if I survived, I could be framed as one of their own. But I was with Inuyasha when it began. The demons of yours I killed, they were some of the spies, and they tried to kill me off in the battle, but Inuyasha stopped them, in turn, I killed them." Inu-no-Taishou and the others watched her carefully, and she took a breath before continuing. "Katsura told you I was a revolutionary to shut me up, to keep me away from you, so I couldn't warn you, he hadn't counted on Inuyasha's trust in a person he'd just met running so deep, and intended to keep me locked up where no one that mattered could ever speak to me."

Inuyasha watched her carefully, knowing it was coming to the reason she had been so strange when she had been brought to him, and he didn't want her to feel overwhelmed with having to explain this all to them. "They took me down, tied me up, and they…"

"Did they _rape_ you?" asked Inuyasha softly.

"They hit me…took it in turns to molest me…make me do things that…" she paused for a moment, blinking away tears and not meeting Inuyasha's eyes. "After, I was stripped and…when he went to finish what he started, the guard came, and said I was to be taken to Inuyasha." She looked to Inu-no-Taishou. "I'm not the first, they treated every prisoner the way I was treated…some even it looked as if it had happened over and over to…your guards, the revolutionary ones…they beat and rape your prisoners, every day since I don't know when." Inu-no-Taishou looked quite shocked, but didn't interrupt her, and gave Inuyasha a look that made him hold back whatever he was going to say.

"The guard dragged me up the stairs, and threw me into Inuyasha's room…it was those very same revolutionaries that broke in that night to try and get me away from Inuyasha…" Inuyasha sat up slightly, pulling his hand out of hers.

"But who was it?" She pulled out the piece of parchment from under the pillow, handing it to Inu-no-Taishou.

"When I wrote the note to Inuyasha, I wrote a list of the revolutionaries' names, but he must have not noticed it, he must have let it slip under the sheets or something." Inu-no-Taishou took the parchment, reading the long list of names.

"Most of these demons - they're some of my most trusted men." She nodded.

"But which one?!" demanded Inuyasha suddenly, jumping to his feet. "What happened last night, and which one did it?" She looked distinctly away from him, and at the sheets.

"Katsura…" she mumbled, and everyone's eyes' widened. "When you and Lady Izayoi left to speak the other day…he advanced on me, and - _touched_ me, reminding me that I shouldn't tell anyone anything, and he said that if I did he'd make good of his threat, and make me wish for death before he finished his torment on me. He said he couldn't get me away from Inuyasha before, but this way he'd have more fun…and he…" she covered herself absentmindedly, and insecurely, and Inuyasha' s eyes widened as he knew what she meant.

"He told me to meet him, later, which was last night, and to come when Inuyasha was asleep. So I decided to leave, so that he couldn't hurt me anymore, and so he couldn't tell anyone what he'd done to me…but he caught me. He dragged me into the washroom downstairs, where you found me…" she choked on her newly formed tears, and Inuyasha watched her closely, trying to hear her out before he went insane at Katsura. "He told me to behave myself, and he…told me to take my clothes off…I…I did what he told me to do…and he…" she swept her hair off her neck, and Inuyasha saw the teeth marks again.

"He did that to you?"

"Most of the injuries on me, were inflicted by him…"

Inu-no-Taishou watched his younger son's fists clench at his sides, trembling with anger.

"He _touched_ me…and then told me to…" she stopped, the memory overwhelming her, and Inuyasha dropped to her side.

"When you said, _'the taste…that makes you feel sick'_ you mean he made you…? He made you use your mouth?"

She nodded frantically, burying her face in his arms.

"He held my head down, and made me swallow…and he…he told me if I vomited it up, he'd do it again, until I held it down…"

Inuyasha looked to his family as she continued, shaking. "He said I mustn't tell you, and then he left…when I vomited it up…you came and...I thought it was him again…and I just…" that was it, she broke down completely. Inuyasha rubbed her back softly, clenching his teeth with anger.

"It's okay," he said softly, "he's gonna pay for what he did." Kagome looked up at him as he released her, getting to his feet.

"Inuyasha?" she asked. Inuyasha made his way past his brother and mother.

"Inuyasha?!" shouted his father, but as his father's voice sounded, Inuyasha marched out of the room. Sesshōmaru and Inu-no-Taishou shared a look, before following Inuyasha out as fast as they could.

***

Katsura grinned as his revolutionary co-spies looked up at him in awe.

"But if she tells Inuyasha-"

"Listen my comrades, if the little whore could bear _that_, she won't tell anyone, she isn't a threat anymore. I'll be surprised if she doesn't kill herself before the week is through, especially after a few extra _visits_ from me…"

"But if she doesn't tell, she'll be sentenced to death for being a revolutionary in their midst, so she'll be gone anyway."

"Trust me; to a young girl like her, what I can do to her is oh so much more than death…" The walls of the guards' gathering room trembled suddenly, and the demons looked around them in confusion.

"Earthquake?"

Suddenly the doors swung open, falling off their hinges with the force of it. All in a split second, Inuyasha leapt at Katsura.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" he screamed as he kicked the table aside and seized the taller demon by the throat. "How dare you…" he growled dangerously, "you filthy bastard…how dare you touch her…"

"My Lord?" choked Katsura.

"DON'T FUCKING '_MY LORD'_ ME YOU SNAKE IN THE GRASS! You dare hurt someone that I care about…You dare touch what's MINE!" He screamed, throwing the demon against the wall, making him slam into the stone. Leaping upon him again, Inuyasha sunk his claws into his throat. "You touched her with your filthy vile hands…you dare threaten her, make her do things with you that - "he broke off, slamming Katsura's head against the stone as he tried to struggle free. "You slithering worm, you won't wriggle your way out of this! My father trusted you, but that's all gone down the fucking creek you little bastard…" his eyes widened, and so did the eyes of his revolutionary companions. "Even if my father trusted you anymore, that wouldn't stop me…all these years it was you…every tear my mother cried…every drop of my father's and brother's blood that was spilled was YOUR doing! My childhood was a bitter memory, any happiness I ever felt smothered with death and misery - stained in blood and violence! Every day I wanted to never wake up again because of you! IT'S YOUR FAULT!"

Inuyasha threw him again the wall once more, making blood trickle out of the fresh wound. He let Katsura sink to the floor, holding his head, and turned on the others, who were trying to slink out the door. "Leaving so soon?" he asked, slinging the large table over, hitting them all like skittles, knocking them into an unconscious heap on the ground. Inuyasha winced as he felt Katsura kick him in the back. The half-demon spun on his heels, receiving a fist square in his jaw.

"You filthy mongrel, you - you and that disgusting mortal whore of a mother of yours - you destroyed Inu-no-Taishou! You turned him soft. I didn't betray my lord; I betrayed a mushy shell of what he used to be! I betrayed YOU!" he leapt forwards, slamming his fist into the wall as Inuyasha avoided the blow.

Katsura screamed as Inuyasha leapt up, elbowing him in the back of the head, where his new wound was. "You're just angry because I got to taste you're whore first!" hissed Katsura, and Inuyasha snarled, slashing at him with his claws, making him back into the wall, four new gashes across his chest. "She tasted sweet, Lord _Dog-Ears…_" Inuyasha smacked him across the jaw. "Your _vestal _virgin is no more; she's nothing more than a tainted demon's whore!"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Inuyasha, smacking him repeatedly in the face, "EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE MAKES MY STOMACH TURN!" he smacked him a final time. "You did this to drive us apart, no, not just that…a part of you wanted to be caught, so that you could be remembered as the demon who fooled Inu-no-Taishou, the demon who raped the only thing Inuyasha ever loved, the one that drove Inuyasha away from the only threat to the revolutionaries. But let me tell you something…" Katsura winced as Inuyasha sank his claws deeper into his throat. "When your body is nothing but ash, Kagome and I will be happy, together, and the memory of you, will be nothing…it won't even exist…" Katsura screamed as Inuyasha's claws sunk deeper. "And every ounce of pain you feel, during the slow death I'm about to exact on you, I want you to known it's because you're nothing…no one will mourn for you…and no one will help you!"

Suddenly Katsura head-butted Inuyasha, and Inuyasha released him. Katsura launched at him, pinning him up against the wall.

"Her skin was _so_ soft Inuyasha," Inuyasha snarled at him, "it was like touching silk when I touched her insides…" He watched the hatred on Inuyasha's face. "It tasted like heaven when she came in my mouth - "

"You bastard…"

"Yes…and it felt indescribably good, like fire up my spine when she sucked me…remember _that_ every time you kiss your _precious innocent virgin _priestess…" White-hot anger like an iron coursed through Inuyasha's veins, his demon rising rapidly to the surface, trying to take over, and Inuyasha let it. "You filthy half-demon, you have no idea who you're dealing with," snarled Katsura as Inuyasha choked, Katsura crushing his windpipe. His eyes widened as Inuyasha seized his arms, sinking his claws in.

"You always say that…everyone…but the truth is…you're all scared, because a half-demon isn't human…it isn't demon…it's both, it's different…and therefore it's unpredictable…I'm unpredictable. That means, that it's a lie when you and yours say you hate us, hate me because I'm a half-demon, and that means we're weak…you hate us because we're half-demons…and we're STRONG!" he screamed, his claws sinking through Katsura's chest blood pouring over them both.

Katsura screamed in agony, and looked to Inuyasha, eyes widening.

"What are you?" he asked, the whites of the half-demon's eyes now blood-red, fangs lengthened as were his claws, and purple marks like his father's either side of his face. "I'm unpredictable…" he growled, ripping through the demon's chest deeper, making him howl in pain. Inuyasha's fangs exposed as Inuyasha's face twisted into an evil smile, Sesshōmaru and Inu-no-Taishou framed in the doorway, watching Inuyasha with horror.

"Inuyasha, you-"

"Your precious boy is no more…Father…" Inuyasha growled, throwing Katsura away from him, only to pounce at him again.

"Inuyasha, INUYASHA!" shouted Sesshōmaru, as Inuyasha slashed at Katsura.

"Inuyasha gave over, he's demon now, and his demon will make Katsura pay in ways _Inuyasha_ could never have imagined…" Sesshōmaru leapt at Inuyasha, knocking his brother aside.

"I have no problem with Katsura being ripped to shreds, but my brother will not take a life in such a way," he said calmly. Inuyasha snarled, leaping at Sesshōmaru, pinning him to the floor. As Inuyasha pounced on his brother, he crushed his windpipe, and Sesshōmaru winced as he struggled to breath. Inu-no-Taishou leapt forwards, smacking Inuyasha across the back of the head, sending him flying into the wall. His head crashed against the stone, and he fell to the floor, his eyes closed, marks faded fangs, and claws reduced to normal size, as he lay motionless on the cold stone ground.

TBC

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A/N: Okies, glad you're all still reading this story, and all still enjoying it. Sorry for the cliffy - what can I say, I live to torment you lol. Okay, seriously, I know that most (if not all) of you were looking forward to the stuff in this chapter, hope it pleased ya ^_^ Leave me a ncie review and I will update ASAP!

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	6. 6 Injustice

**WARNING, PLEASE READ THIS NOTE!!!!**

Okies,originally chapter 6 had a lemon in, but since this is i cannot post it, so i have cut it out, if you wish to read it simply private message me and I will send it ^.^

Neways, on with the story! Enjoy and review!

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Injustice

Six

Inuyasha avoided his father's eyes as he sat, his mother fussing over his wounds. Inu-no-Taishou and Sesshōmaru standing nearby, all was silent.

"I'm sorry, Dad…" mumbled Inuyasha, still not raising his eyes to his father.

"I should hope so," he said suddenly in response, his tone rising. "If Sesshōmaru hadn't stopped you, you would have hated yourself…to kill is one thing, but to tear something apart as your demon side was about to…what if we hadn't been able to bring you back?" Inuyasha remained silent. "We could have lost you forever, and what would have happened to Kagome then, huh?" Inuyasha sighed.

"I know dad, but…if he had done those things to Mom…you would have ripped his throat out and made him look at it!" Inu-no-Taishou heaved a deep sigh.

"I know, I'm sorry for getting angry…you just scare me sometimes Inuyasha, we don't fully understand the rules of your transformations, until we do, don't give into your demon side so easily, and keep your weakness secret as always." Inuyasha nodded, getting to his feet.

"What happened to the revolutionary spies?" asked Inuyasha. Inu-no-Taishou looked to Sesshōmaru for a moment.

"Some, who were found to have raped, abused and murdered our prisoners for years passed, were executed…the rest, meaning hardly any, were placed under arrest, indefinitely…" Inuyasha nodded.

"And…Katsura?"

"There were only five kept under arrest…he wasn't one of them," replied Sesshōmaru.

"So, Katsura was executed?" asked Inuyasha. Sesshōmaru shook his head.

"So where is he?" Inu-no-Taishou looked at him.

"When we were trying to bring you back, when you attacked Sesshōmaru, he escaped…but!" he added, as Inuyasha looked as if he were about to start. "Now we can trust all our guards and servants, you can truthfully assure Kagome that she can be safe here." Inuyasha nodded slowly. "Your mother told Kagome what's happened, she is fully aware of everything…" Inuyasha nodded once more, going to the door. "But Inuyasha?" the half-demon stopped to listen, "before you go any further to Kagome, make it clear what she is getting herself into, should she do so…it's only fair that she know the risks, before she becomes too deep in our troubles."

"It's too late…to say before she gets too deep, Dad, " Inuyasha said quietly, leaving the room.

***

Inuyasha sighed as he opened the door, finding Kagome sitting on the bed with her knees up to her chest. She looked up as he closed the door behind him, and he smiled at her. "You okay?" he asked, and she nodded, as he moved over, sitting on the edge of the bed. "So my mother told you, about my transformations?" Kagome nodded again, not looking at him. After a short silence she spoke.

"It doesn't bother me…I've already come to terms with the fact that there are things about you that I don't fully understand, and there are things about you that will make it hard for me to be with you.." He looked at her as she finally raised her eyes to him. "But I want to, be with you, that's why, I…"

"Kagome?"

"I was going to leave you last night, so I could stop suffering like this…so you didn't have to know what I'd been reduced to…so you didn't have to leave your family to protect me…so many reasons, but no matter how I thought of it, I didn't want to leave, in some ways…"

"I'm not sure I understand…"

"Your mother was right, when she said it'd hurt to stay…but she was right when she said, that I'd sooner die than give it up, because that'd mean I'd have to leave the thing I love the most…and I…I don't want to leave you. But if you want me to leave, then just-" She cut off as he captured her lips with a swift kiss. He smiled as he released her from their embrace.

"Never leave me," he said, and she smiled, the first true carefree smile he'd ever seen her give, and it made him kiss her again. "And if you ever do, I'll follow you, I'll find you wherever you go, and I'll bring you right back again…" she smiled again.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and Inuyasha got up. "Who is it?"

"We're here to do your fire, Sir?" Inuyasha opened the door, allowing the servants to come in and poke at the fire until it was blazing again. Inuyasha closed the door again behind them as the scuttled out of the room. His golden eyes widened as he turned back to the bed, finding Kagome standing on the floor at the end of it, fiddling absentmindedly with the collar of the silk kimono she'd been dressed in.

"Kagome?"

"I want to start again…" she said, and he looked at her in confusion, as he stepped towards her. "I just want it to go right, you know?" he nodded, stopping before her. The ebony haired girl leant up on tiptoes, Inuyasha meeting her half way as she pulled her arms round his neck, pressing her lips against his softly.

Kagome whimpered as she felt his fingertips run slowly all over her body, Inuyasha took advantage of the utterance and slid his tongue softly into her mouth, massaging her tongue with his. "Inuyasha…?" she moaned into the kiss, and he broke their embrace, considering her flushed expression. "…undress me…" he looked at her for a moment, before capturing her lips with his once more, bringing his hand up and stroking her cheek gently, allowing his fingers to run into her hair, drawing her deeper into the kiss...

The sunrise found the lovers, wrapped in each other's embrace. Inuyasha spooned affectionately up against the naked girl, arms wrapped round her, his head resting unknowingly, innocently on her chest, the sheets wrapped snugly round the both of them. Kagome was stroking Inuyasha's hair and puppy ears unconsciously as she slept on, the sleeping Inuyasha leaning into the touch and mewled with bliss in his sleep.

Inu-no-Taishou entered with clothes for Kagome in hand, setting them on the drawers before noticing the two, and he smiled at the calm and peaceful look on his son's face as he slept, a look he'd not seen in him since he was a very young boy. Even though he knew that little boy, had become a man in the respect that he'd lost his virginity and taken a mate, he still looked younger than he'd ever looked, defenceless and content in his lover's embrace. Inu-no-Taishou left silently, closing the door behind him, and sighed – he had a lot of work to do before the two woke up, though from the sounds they were making until very late (or very early, depending on which way you looked at it), he guessed they wouldn't be waking for a while…

***

Inuyasha awoke without opening his eyes. He could feel the first of the sun's rays shining warmly on the bare flesh of his back, and usually he would be up and about by now. But without remembering anything of the night before, he laid contently in the warmth that had wrapped itself around him, bathing in the wonderfully emollient fragrance. Slowly as he breathed the scent in, he realised what it was, and realised what warmth was holding him in a protective and loving embrace. He felt the absentminded stroking at the base of his ears suddenly improve in skill.

Slowly he opened an eye, blushing furiously as he realised his head was resting on Kagome's chest. Looking up, he found the sunlight streaming in through the window was reflecting onto their bed, bathing the breathtaking girl with the light as a smile graced her lips in realising he was awake. Inuyasha couldn't help but purr when she rubbed the base of his ears, a wavering trace of the soft pink underside before planting a kiss on the end of his nose. He growled his approval. "Have you been watching me?" he growled with a smile.

"Of course," she whispered, stroking his silver tresses, "its payback." He smiled again, leaning up planting a soft kiss on her lips. Abandoning the vulnerable position and regaining his dominant one, the half-demon wrapped the girl in his arms as he placed her with tender kisses.

Breaking their lip lock, Inuyasha stroked her nose with his slightly, deft fingertips playing with the ebony curls that fell gracefully around her face.

"Sweet dreams?" she nodded in reply. "Good…" The girl rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes, and not for the first or the last time, he inhaled her scent deeply. "Are you okay?" he asked, and she nodded, without words or opening her eyes.

"A little sore, but otherwise – what's wrong?" he shook his head.

"Nothing…" Again that smile graced her lips.

"Maybe we should wash or something," he looked up at her as she sat up, holding the soiled sheets over her chest. "I must smell a little funky, huh?" he smiled oddly at her.

"I like your scent…"

"Still, if I don't go and have a bath," she said with a mischievous smile, "then you can't come in and get all the places I can't reach." He smiled at that, kissing her gently.

"I'll run the bath, you wait here." She frowned slightly as he hopped of the bed, and making his way over to the washroom door.

"I can do it."

"Actually we have servants to do it, but if I alert people that we're awake, they won't leave us alone." She smiled, leaning back against the pillows as she heard him running the bath.

"What're we going to do? Hide out in here all day?" A small pause, and then she heard him.

"Actually I was thinking we could continue much on the same level as last night." She blushed.

_If Inuyasha and I made love last night, where does that put me?_ She thought, running her fingers absentmindedly along her collarbone. _I was getting strange looks from their servants and guards just when they thought I was his whore…_she looked to the bathroom door, deep in thought. _Maybe I am…he hasn't said I'm anything more…_ It was a mass of insecure thoughts such as these that spurred in her mind. It was just her nature to question everything and suspect it to turn out the worst it possibly could. _What's wrong with me? _She thought, resting her head against the headboard of the four-poster bed. _I can't even experience something as special as my first time without acting like an idiot…but then again, Inuyasha isn't exactly rushing to stop any thoughts like this, is he?_

She nearly jumped out of her skin as she realised Inuyasha was standing next to the bed. "Are you okay?" he asked, and she nodded, lying through her teeth, and he noticed it. "What's wrong?" She shook her head. "Hey, come on," he insisted, sitting on the side of the bed and watching her closely.

"It's just…you said you loved me-"

"And I do, is that what this is-"

"No, I just…you haven't told me where we stand…after last night, I mean…" Inuyasha's brows knitted together, and he leant forward, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Don't be so paranoid, okay?" she nodded. "If it's an answer you need, then I guess at the moment I guess we'd be courting, right?" she looked at him in confusion. "Since you're not my mate yet, but we've both accepted each other. But we kind of skipped a step."

"Last night, you mean we weren't-"

"Hey, no no no, not that – it _does_ happen this way a lot, my mother _conceived me_ before she was my father's mate so don't think like that." She nodded, slightly relieved, she didn't want him to regret it.

"So…I'm not just your…"

"My what?"

"Nothing…"

"Kagome-"

"Look, I know what they say about us, about _me_, that I'm just-"

"You're not _just_ anything! You're my _everything_, you got that?" she nodded, and he tilted her chin to make her look at him. "I'm half-demon, and you're a priestess, things are gonna be hard, but I'm not going to give up, and I'm not gonna let you either." She smiled, nodding her assurance. "Now, do want this bath or not?" he asked roughly but with a playful smile, and she returned it, wrapping her arms round his neck as he scooped her up into his arms.

"You going to wash the parts I can't reach?" she asked coquettishly, nipping his ear.

"And then some," he replied with a smirk.

***

Kagome sighed as she climbed out of the bath, "I'll go change the sheets then, while you soak," he looked like he was going to argue, but decided not to waste his time, _she'd just win anyway,_ he thought. Kagome walked into the bedroom again, looking around for something to put on, after drying herself. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and she jumped slightly. "Inuyasha, there's someone at the door, I need something to put on." She said, poking her head back round into the steamy washroom.

"My mother left you loads of stuff, look in the right drawers and you'll find your stuff." She blushed slightly at his mother having arranged drawer space in Inuyasha room for her already. _It's as if she knew_…The knocking came again, only louder, and she opened up drawers, trying to find women's clothes.

Eventually she just grabbed the thing off the top of the pile on the drawers, pulling it on. Her cheeks darkened as she realised how extravagant it looked on her, and she didn't feel right in it. The pink satin of the light kimono felt nice against her skin but she still felt out of place. Again the knocking came louder than ever, and she didn't have time to find anything else, so she grin and bared it. "Uh…come in?" she said nervously, unsure if it was really up to her, (though also realising if she'd said that to Inuyasha he'd probably say she was being stupid).

Sesshōmaru raised an eyebrow as he stepped into the room, and Kagome only succeeded in blushing darker.

"Miss Kagome?" he said quietly, and she met his eyes at last. "It quite becomes you…" She looked confused at first, and then blushed darker when she realised he'd given her a complement.

"Thank you…"

"Is Inuyasha here?" he asked, and she shifted uncomfortably, realising that he must be able to smell the _evidence_ of last night.

"He's in the bath."

"Right, well, could you-"

"-I'm out I'm out damn it, what do you want?" asked Inuyasha, walking in, a towel wrapped leisurely round his waist.

"Guests have arrived, there's a gathering in the Great Hall, Father expects-"

"Yeah, yeah I know," wavered Inuyasha, searching through the drawers for clothes. "Who's the uninvited guest – as if I need to ask…" Sesshōmaru smiled slightly.

"You know very well who it is…Little Brother…" Inuyasha sneered.

"Perfect timing as ever…arrogant bastards, why do they always assume they can turn up whenever they please?!"

"Because he's a very old acquaintance of Father's, and our most powerful ally-"

"-Yeah, well stuff the old windbag…him and that smooth talking pratt of a son…"

"Be that as it may Inuyasha-"

"Oh, so you don't deny it?" A smile played at Sesshōmaru's pale lips, but he neither agreed nor disagreed, before he turned to leave.

"Just behave Brother…" Inuyasha stuck his tongue out, making Kagome giggle slightly at his immaturity, (though she was sure he was doing it on purpose). "Oh, and Inuyasha?" The half-demon turned to look at his brother once more. "Father wishes that Kagome accompany you…" Inuyasha's ears pricked.

"Eh? What for?" Sesshōmaru's face remained expressionless.

"She's of high station now, I suppose," he said as he closed the door behind him.

Kagome watched a blush burn Inuyasha's face, as he determinedly searched for clothes, trying not to ponder the demon's words too much. Kagome watched him as she brushed the ebony tresses, mimicking the style on her hair that Izayoi had done for her the other day. Something was playing Inuyasha's mind, but she had no idea what, in fact she was still reeling from the confusion Sesshōmaru and Inuyasha's conversation had left her in. _Who's this guest or, guests that I have to meet? And, "Higher In Station"? Does that mean that – No!_ She looked herself over in the mirror as she thought about it some more, until her brain felt like it was going to explode, and until she saw Inuyasha reflected in the mirror, watching her with an adoring gaze.

"What is it?" she asked, not turning to face him, watching his reflection instead. He walked forwards, wrapping his arms round her and nuzzling her hair, planting a kiss in the nape of her neck.

"You just – look really beautiful is all…" she blushed.

"You look great too, as usual." Inuyasha smirked. "Do you actually own anything else – apart from that kimono I mean?" Inuyasha shrugged.

"It's my inheritance from my dad…"

"Huh?"

"That armour Sesshōmaru wears is demon armour, from my Dad, and this kimono is my inheritance from him."

"So you wear it all the time?" He shrugged again.

"I guess they just…"

"What?" she asked, turning in his arms to face him.

"They…make me feel safe…" she watched him closely, "and having a life like mine, I just…felt comfortable in them is all..." she smiled planting a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Thanks."

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"For making _me _feel safe." He smiled. "And, for opening up to me." He rolled his eyes.

"Don't go soppy on me girl." She smiled at him as he took her hand in his and lead her out of the room.

Kagome felt strange, walking at his side down the stairs and even further down the halls. She was about to walk into a meeting of demons, and felt completely out of place already. _Inu-no-Taishou wants me involved because Inuyasha slept with me…how is that going to make these demons look at me?_ The thought of being in such close proximity of demons, and them looking at her like she was some – it made her shiver. Inuyasha squeezed her hand softly, and she looked at him, realising that they'd come to a stop before a great door. "Don't look so terrified, they're aren't gonna hurt you, heck they aren't even here about you-"

"Wouldn't be too sure of that." Inuyasha and Kagome nearly leapt out of their skins as Izayoi appeared behind them.

"Mother?" he asked. "What do you-"

"After everything that's gone on, and with Katsura gone back _alive_ to the other revolutionaries, and you letting hell loose on them," Inuyasha avoided his mother's eyes, but Kagome was sure she saw him roll his eyes and 'tut' impatiently.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Kagome came up in this conversation." Kagome pondered her words.

"Is that why Lord Inu-no-Taishou wanted me here?" asked Kagome, and Izayoi smiled, and she noted that Inuyasha cast her a sideways look.

"No dear, it's just – how can I put this politely…" she said, thinking. "There are a lot of established rules, laws and understandings of things in demon society, Kagome. Inuyasha has recognized you as his significant other, making you his equal in life." Kagome looked to Inuyasha, who could still not meet her eyes, and was watching her out of the corner of his golden ones.

"So I'm, like in the same position as you are to Lord Inu-no-Taishou?" she asked nervously. Izayoi smiled.

"Not quite, I suppose humans at this stage would call it _engagement_." Kagome looked as if she finally understood.

"So, I'm like Inuyasha's _betrothed_ or something?" Izayoi nodded, and Inuyasha finally spoke.

"We'd better go in now." His mother nodded, as he pushed the doors open.

The vast room was lit by the sunlight streaming in through the great windows. It was the room she'd first seen Inuyasha in; Inu-no-Taishou and Sesshōmaru were standing where she'd seen them on that night, the night of the gathering, only now it was daylight, and there were many demons gathered before them now, and it made a lump rise in her throat. It didn't help her uneasiness as the faces of every being in that room turned to face the three as they entered. _Look away, please, stop looking this way…_

She was thankful that she didn't trip once walking up there. Izayoi took Inu-no-Taishou's hand as he held it out to her, standing beside him, Inuyasha stopping next to Sesshōmaru, and signalling to Kagome that she should do the same. The girl took a breath as she stilled, realising that most of the demons were still looking at her.

"Lady Izayoi, it's been a long time," greeted one of the demons, kissing her hand politely, the woman smiled graciously, but Kagome couldn't help but notice a shadow of contempt for the demon that was greeting her so warmly. "Everytime my eyes fall upon you, you seem to have grown more beautiful, if at all possible." She bowed slightly.

"Thank you My Lord." Kagome looked to Inuyasha, who seemed to sneer slightly at the way his mother showed such politeness, looking as if he wanted to rip the man apart, and probably would have, if it wasn't such a strong ally of his father.

"And of course Lord Sesshōmaru and Master Inuyasha," Sesshōmaru bowed his head slightly, and again that same shadow of contempt dwelled in those eyes as Inuyasha did the same. Kagome seemed to notice, as it seemed no one else did, that Izayoi and Inuyasha seemed to share a secret loathing of this man, that ran deeper than Lord Inu-no-Taishou realised. Sesshōmaru however, did realise it, and perhaps that was why he stood so close to his brother, to keep his temper in check. The demon's eyes wavered over her for a moment, before he smiled courteously at her, bowing his head slightly as he'd done for Izayoi. "And who's this vision of loveliness?" Kagome smiled half-heartedly, noticing a strangeness behind the flattery he offered both her and Izayoi. It made her uneasy. She met Izayoi's eyes, whom she noticed now was standing opposite her, and the woman signalled her to offer hand to him. Kagome did so, though she didn't like one minute of it, and she could have sworn she heard a low, almost silent growl of hatred rumble in Inuyasha's throat.

Kagome was surprised that when she went to reply with her name, Izayoi widened her eyes as a signal for her to silence.

"Lady Kagome," Sesshōmaru replied for her. Then she realised – _"There are a lot of established rules, laws and understandings of things in demon society…"_ She wasn't allowed to introduce herself; it seemed that only Inuyasha or another _male _of the family could do so. _Chauvinistic bastards, I bet demon __**men**__ made the damn rules!_

"A fine capture of yours Lord Sesshōmaru?" he asked, and Sesshōmaru shook his head.

"Inuyasha has-"

"Oh, I see, so the rumours are true then?" The family looked at him. "This is the priestess from the demon slayer's village?" Inuyasha sneered, but Sesshōmaru looked at him with warning in his golden orbs.

"She _was_…the revolutionaries burnt it and everyone else to the ground, Kagome came here to warn Father about them," explained Inuyasha, though the demons didn't seem to want to hear him. Inu-no-Taishou turned to his younger son with a sigh.

"I've already explained to Lord Eisuke and the others about what has come to pass over the last few days. They are fully aware of-"

"Then why are they watching her like she's a damn murderer!"

"Inuyasha!" shouted his father. "Hold your tongue! You don't understand that Kagome _did_ in fact kill demons-"

"To stop them from killing her – from killing us in our sleep like the deceitful bastards they are!"

"Inuyasha, stop it, please," said Izayoi softly, but Inuyasha ignored her, knowing full well she'd scream and shout at the demon herself if she could.

"Inuyasha, stop," said Sesshōmaru quietly, grabbing his arm warningly as he went to move forwards. Inuyasha silenced.

"I'm sorry about that Lord Eisuke; my son is very sensitive about such things-"

"Yes, Inu-no-Taishou, I can recall. He's got a temper on him worse than yours," said the demon with a smile. Kagome shivered with that empty smile, and Inuyasha looked at her a moment.

"Are you okay?" he asked, she nodded.

"Maybe you should take her back upstairs, Inu-"

"We wished to speak with Lady Kagome, if that's alright with you," said Eisuke, interrupting Sesshōmaru. Inuyasha sneered again.

"But what if it's not alright with me…?" Kagome squeezed his hand softly, and he stopped.

"You're not his mate yet, are you?" Kagome's eyes widened as did Inuyasha's and Sesshōmaru's.

"Lord Eisuke that isn't something we should talk about now is it-"

"Are you?" he repeated, cutting across Izayoi. Kagome looked away from him; it wasn't something she wanted to talk about with anyone but Inuyasha. Inuyasha noticed the look on her face and pulled her back slightly behind him.

"She doesn't have to answer that," he said as calmly as his temper would allow him. "It's got nothing to do with you."

"But if she isn't you're mate, and you're scent is smothered over her the way it is, the rumours that she is your whore are true!" Inuyasha snarled angrily.

"My father may put up with your revolting scent and snide comments, but I'm not my father and I will do no such thing!" Sesshōmaru bolted forwards and held his brother back, arms locking around the fuming boy's shoulders, Lord Eisuke eyeing the hanyou strangely.

"You are truly unaware _Master Inuyasha_, just how like your father you are."

"Inuyasha, stop it now!" Inuyasha stopped his resistance of his brother's restraint, and his silver bangs hung into his eyes, shielding them from view.

Still that falsely understanding look was plastered over the demon's face, and Kagome kept her eyes to the floor. She felt awkward and out of place here, the yukata that clung so blatantly to her figure not helping any.

"There's no need for hostility Master Inuyasha, we only wish to talk with her, that's not so difficult is it?" Inuyasha looked as if he were going to retaliate, but the warning look in his father's eyes bade him hold his tongue. A smirk of triumph in Inuyasha's silence flickered across Eisuke's face for a blink of a second, before he focused his dark eyes on Kagome.

"Lord Inu-no-Taishou has informed me of all that has befallen both you and this house since you're arrival…and yet, I wonder what is to befall you now that Katsura has escaped and is once again out of your reach?"

"He would not have gotten away, but problems arose in the battle and they distracted us from Katsura himself," Sesshomaru responded for her, still glancing at his brother out of the corner of his eye to keep him in check, sensing his building fury. Kagome didn't look directly at Sesshomaru, but she knew that the usual, complacent expression would be present on his face, he was definitely hiding the details of Inuyasha's demon self arising and lashing out senselessly against what his base instincts told him was foe. _Sesshomaru is lying to protect Inuyasha's secrets…I guess people knowing about Inuyasha's unstable blood is dangerous indeed, _she thought, hearing Inuyasha's fangs grind against each other as he fought to not lash out at Eisuke again.

"I apologise, Lord Sesshomaru, but I was asking Miss er..."

"Kagome." Sesshomaru interjected emotionlessly, "_Lady Kagome_, to those of your _honour_." Inuyasha didn't fail to pick up the slight sarcasm on the word 'honour', since they both knew this demon and all his wretched family had no such thing, not that they'd anger their father by stating so.

"The point is, something seems to be amiss here, Lord Sesshomaru," Eisuke replied. "Why suddenly is the Great Royal Family of the Western Lands all so desperate to shield a priestess from even _speaking _for herself? If she's no more than some concubine is it necessary for such decorum?"

Finally, he snapped. Inuyasha wrenched himself free from his brother's slack hold and leapt forward. Fist collided with a demon's jaw, but it wasn't Lord Eisuke's. Inuyasha snarled as he watched a young, dark-haired demon he knew all too well, smirk through his bloody lip, which was instantly healing.

"Good job your punch is still as lacking as it always was _Master_ Inuyasha."

"That's fucking _Lord_ Inuyasha to you, you little twerp. I know and you know that when it comes to position in authority, you ain't even worthy of wipin' my ass!" The half-demon growled, making his mother make some ashamed noises in the background. Kagome's eyes widened; this was a _Royal _gathering and yet no one was even _attempting _to separate the two.

"Whatever, 'cause while we know that your family are higher than me, a _half-demon_ could never be a lord of the west. It's not just in my opinion that Sesshomaru is the only heir to Lord Inu-No-Taishou's position." He spat, and though he didn't display it, at least three people in the hall knew that the words cut into Inuyasha worse than any blade, the two human women who were two of those three, watched Inuyasha closely. "I will _never_ call a _mongrel_ my Lord."

"That is enough!" Everyone's eyes snapped in pure shock to the silver-haired demon who'd spoken, and who no one had expected to speak up. Sesshomaru moved elegantly forwards, prising his little brother's clawed hands from the young Lord Satoru's throat with relative ease, separating them. "This is _our_ father's house," Sesshomaru stated, his voice back to it's usual monotone, Satoru not missing the demon acknowledging Inuyasha in the conversation. "And while it isn't my heritage _yet_, this house and these lands will one day be mine, and though my father has a sense of Royal etiquette, and how to treat one's guests, _I_ will not tolerate such impudence and rudeness to someone who _**is**_ an heir to these lands." Satoru, and the other demons lowered their gaze, and Kagome noticed for some reason, that they were in blatant fear of the demon lord who was suddenly speaking more than she'd _ever _heard him speak before. "And what's more _Lord_ Satoru, no brother of mine and certainly no son of _my_ father could _ever_ be a '_mongrel'_…Hold your foul tongue in future lest the task fall upon me to remove it."

Everyone snapped their heads up to Inu-no-Taishou as he clapped his hands to regain attention to himself. "That's enough." Sesshomaru and Inuyasha stepped back next to their father, not even waiting for the command to do so. Lord Inu-no-Taishou was thoroughly angry with them, and though he didn't lose his temper with them often, they didn't want to be on the bad side of it. "Lord Eisuke," the demon lord continued curtly. "Your concern for Katsura and the Revolutionaries is not without good reason. I too, fear for their next move, but as their spies have been removed from our midst, the fear of their overthrowing us from the inside is demolished. My only fear is that with the great numbers of great demons they possess, a war could be disastrous to the lands." Eisuke nodded slowly.

"Though I did not disagree with your decision, My Lord, there is much hatred of humans and part demons, and all of them wish to rid this new 'equality' law you've brought forth. The outcomes of war, I must say, far outweigh the benefits."

Instead of being angry with the words, Inu-no-Taishou shook his head slightly, much like one might at a child who didn't understand something. "But not to me. As any man, human or demon alike, I love my family, it is no secret that my weakness is them, since everything I've every strived for is for them… I loved Sesshomaru's mother when she was alive, I love Inuyasha's mother, and I love my sons… I will do anything to bring them a better world to live in, to ensure their happiness. This prejudice, cruel world has left people less fortunate afraid to speak their mind or feel free to love who they wish; no humans may mix with demons lest they lose their lives entirely, and any part demon _"abominations"_ that are brought into this world as a result of that selfless love are forced into a life of loneliness and hate… Despite what people may say, I favour neither Sesshomaru because he's full-demon, and the oldest, nor Inuyasha because he's a half-demon and the youngest. They're lucky enough that it makes no difference to me what they are, I care for them equally, but from birth I never though they'd have equal lives…" No one dared interrupt, though the couldn't see where this speech was heading.

"_That's unfair_, I thought to myself, while Inuyasha was still growing in Lady Izayoi's womb. My youngest son is not yet in this world and even now his life is lesser than that of his brother. _They should be equal._ So, then it occurred to me, as I watched Inuyasha and Sesshomaru meet each other for the first time – if my two sons should be equal in life, why shouldn't everybody else? Humans, Demons, Part-demons, when everything else is stripped away, we're all in this world, and we all breath the same air, live under the same sky, rise and fall to the same sun. Why is any different from the other? _That's unfair_, I thought, as I watched Inuyasha grow slowly, outcast from children that he was equal to, hearing his tears as he hid from them, watched him gradually cease seeking refuge behind the likes of his mother and brother, and gradually just stop reacting, just getting used to it. _That's unfair_ that anybody should be different from the other just because his mother was _different_ from his father. So you see, Lord Eisuke, the benefits can never be outweighed. Giving people the chance to not be shoved aside to make way for another, allowing mortals, demons and parts-demons the opportunity to be happy – together, isn't that worth over two-hundred-years of all this struggling?" A long silence ensued; no one knew how to answer.

Suddenly, Inuyasha broke the silence. "Sorry, please excuse me," he said hurriedly, darting through the demons gathered round, rushing through the great doors and out of sight. Sesshomaru and Kagome met each other's eyes for a moment, before receiving a small nod from Inu-no-Taishou, dismissing them both to follow after him.

***

Inuyasha fought back tears as he dashed through the halls, running out into the bright morning sunshine, dropping himself down on the side of the fountain that he and Kagome had sat together at only yesterday. Staring angrily at his reflection, he cursed his half-demon appearance. Watching his puppy-ears with hatred as if they'd disappear if he wished hard enough. Inuyasha didn't tear his self-loathing gaze from his reflection, even as he noticed the two reflections of both Kagome and his brother alongside his own. After a moment of silence, Sesshomaru lowered himself to sit next to his younger brother, leaving Kagome to merely stand there, not sure what to do or say, or if she even had a place to. "Inuyasha?" asked Kagome nervously, seriously worried as for what was making him act like this.

"Stupid old man…" Inuyasha growled under his breath, his golden eyes glassy, but betraying no tears – Inuyasha having forgotten long ago how to cry. "He goes on and on about things like that…he fights all this time, he throws this crap out about 'equality' but it will _never_ be the way he sees it," Inuyasha growled out, sounded half angry half distressed.

"Inuyasha, he merely-"

"-He _cares_, I know, but he has _no_ idea what it's like to _be_ different! If he did he'd know it's hopeless to try…" The half-demon continued, cutting off Sesshomaru's words.

"Inuyasha, I know, he's my father too. I understand that he sees the world differently, but he-"

"-He what? He doesn't _know_ what it's like. He can strive and try but it'll _never _make any difference! This world is cruel, and harsh and bitter! Have you forgotten so easily? What life I lead even when I was a little kid? Have you forgotten so easily Sesshomaru?!" Inuyasha screamed, not giving his brother chance to answer. "Have you forgotten watching me trying to play with all those kids and watching them push me aside? Have you forgotten all of them, and the _so-called_ adults trying to pull these fucking ears clean off my head?! Have you forgotten all those fucking tears and all the times I ran away from home? Have you forgotten all the times they'd beat the crap out of me or even set wolves or dogs on me? And then when you'd have to come and find me later on at night time, and fetch me down from a tree or somewhere I'd gone to hide? Do you remember all the times I begged you to kill me?!"

Sesshomaru watched his younger brother with unusually uncertain eyes.

"No, Little Brother, I have not forgotten…" Inuyasha shook his head to shake away the tears, looking with disgust at his reflection once more breaking the image with his hand in the water.

"It's all hopeless…Half-demons will _never_ be considered people, _ever_! So what's the point in trying? As long as there's people like Satoru and Katsura in the world, half-demons will remain the scum of the earth…" Sesshomaru and Kagome watched as Inuyasha looked thoughtfully at his bare feet for a moment. "And I…I've already accepted that…"

"Inuyasha-"

"-No, Sesshomaru, I've accepted it, okay? I'm not a human, or a demon, but I…I don't care anymore…" The half-demon suddenly looked up to Kagome, making her jump slightly with the movement of his head, jerking up at her. "Kagome?"

"Yeah…?"

"You don't care that I'm a half-demon, do you?"

"Of course I-"

"-'Cause I'll say it now, before any thing else happens. Everything they say is true."

"Inuyasha-"

"-I _am_ nothing more than a half-breed. Whether I'm the son of Lord Inu-no-Taishou and Princess Izayoi or not, it doesn't change the fact that I'll never be my father's true son and heir, like Sesshomaru. And I'll never be able to earn me or my family anything but disrespect and snide comments… I'll never be able to offer you anything else but my 'tainted' half-demon blood…"

"Is that all you have you say?" Kagome asked quietly with tears welling in her hazel eyes. Inuyasha didn't reply. "Because all I had to offer you was me, and you loved me without question. Do you really think so little of me, as to think I'd abandon you so quickly? I love you, in whatever shape or form you have or will take, you should know that by now…" Inuyasha looked up at her from his seat by his brother, throwing her a heart-felt smile.

"Yeah, I really should…" Sesshomaru looked away from the two in _'not'_-embarrassment, not knowing where to set his eyes.

"How very sweet." The three looked in the direction of the voice bearing such sarcasm. "There's the weak little half-demon who I used to know," continued Satoru, "dealing with problems the only way he knows how, running to cry behind Lord Sesshomaru or _Lady Izayoi_." Inuyasha growled, stalking forwards.

"My mother is more of a lady than any whores from your family will _ever_ be!" Satoru sneered at Inuyasha's comment.

"Why? Because your father decided that she'd be a good lay every now and then? _Everybody_ knows that the only reason he _ever_ took the Eight Vows with her was because she was carrying your worthless body inside of her – and your father, being the dutiful demon he was, couldn't bear to abandon a mistake of _his_ creation." Inuyasha's eyes widened in anger and shock, turning his gaze to Sesshomaru as if to clarify if this was true or not. However Sesshomaru didn't answer, with his mouth or with his eyes.

"Well? Say something Sesshomaru?!" Ordered Inuyasha, "DAMN YOU ANSWER ME!"

"As if you need him to respond. Everyone knows your mother, like the whore she was just laid back and accepted your father using her as some prostitute to rut in after the loss of companionship after Sesshomaru's mother died. In payment he gave her village and castle the highest degree of protection under the western lands. You hear that?! Your filthy human mother sold her body to a demon to protect her wasteful human servants and family, who wouldn't even accept her after you tainted her mortal body!" Inuyasha bit his bottom lip, trying not to snap. Satoru's words hitting a nerve. He'd heard rumours that his mother and father were under some sort of _arrangement_ and that when he, Inuyasha, was conceived, it merely messed up this said arrangement, and they both had to be accepted into the castle. _But it's not true…It…it can't be…_

"So what do you have to say now, _Lord _Inuyasha? Now you see what a whore your mother really was? _Everybody_ knows that the only _real_ Lady of the West was Sesshomaru's mother. How could a human have a place in a Great Demon's Heart? And if so, how could a mangy half-demon? You should realise by now how he strives to make it appear that you and Sesshomaru are equal? It's well-known that it's merely a cover-up, his so-called_ love_ for you is no more than his duty to a _mistake_ that he sired."

"Well…say something…Sesshomaru…" Inuyasha muttered after a long silence, in which Satoru relished in the agony in Inuyasha's face. "Is…is what he saying true?!" Kagome watched Inuyasha spin on his heel, seizing the front of Sesshomaru's silk kimono. "Tell me!!! Is what he's saying true?!" The priestess standing beside them watched as Sesshomaru peeled his little brother's clawed hands from the front of his clothes, holding them tightly in his own, not saying a word in reply.

TBC

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A/N: And That's about the it for this chapter. What ya think? Oh, BTW, I realise that in this story at some points I refer to Sesshy as Sesshōmaru and then sometimes I refer to him as 'Sesshomaru' - without the accent on the 'o', the accent is merely a character to show it's 'said' with the sound 'ou', but my computer got confused and does both, so just forgive me for that ^_^ And please don't ponder my mention of 'The Eight Vows', as I think Satoru referred to it, that'll be revealed in either the next chapter or the one following. **And dont forget if you want to read the lemon that was originally in this chapter just private message me! :D **Yeah, so neways, please remember to leave a nice review, even a few short words will make my day a bit brighter and will inspire me to update ^.^

Hope You Enjoyed!

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	7. 7 Truth of The Past Present Peril

A/N: Heya readers *waves* ^_^ thanks to my wonderful reviewers *hugs you all* you've made a crappy, stressful week much brighter ^.^

So VERY Sorry about the delay. And sorry this chapter isn't very long, I ran out of time and wanted to just give you an update to tide you over until perhaps next week. Please review!

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A Truth of The Past; Present Peril

Seven

"_Well…say something…Sesshomaru…" Inuyasha muttered after a long silence, in which Satoru relished in the agony in Inuyasha's face. "Is…is what he saying true?!" Kagome watched Inuyasha spin on his heel, seizing the front of Sesshomaru's silk kimono. "Tell me!!! Is what he's saying true?!" The priestess standing beside them watched as Sesshomaru peeled his little brother's clawed hands from the front of his clothes, holding them tightly in his own, not saying a word in reply._

"I'm not the one to answer you, Little brother…" Sesshōmaru finally replied, prising his brother's hands from his clothes, ignoring the claw marks in the fabric.

"Well who the heck is?! If what that asshole said is true then _our_ father won't answer me, will he?" Again, Sesshōmaru didn't answer.

"Inuyasha…"

"The fact that you're not answering…" Inuyasha cut across him, his voice almost silent, and heavy with misery, "it just means that it's right…isn't it?" Inuyasha's golden eyes flashed crimson for a blink of a second, causing Sesshōmaru to step back slightly. "_Fine_," Inuyasha growled, a little of his inner-demon's voice sneaking into his words. "I'll get answers myself…" Kagome watched as Inuyasha darted off through the gardens, and out of sight, not sure whether to follow or to stay where she was. A small, irritated growl rumbled in the back of Sesshōmaru's throat, as he gave Kagome a quick, polite bow, before hastening after his brother.

Leaning back slightly, Kagome sat down on the edge of the fountain once more, gazing thoughtfully at the rippling water. Suddenly, her body trembled with a shiver, as she saw the dark-haired demon's image reflected in the water, having quite forgotten he was there up until that moment. Her fingers toyed nervously with her yukata sleeves, nibbling her bottom lip, praying he would turn and leave, but he didn't.

"You never did answer my Father's question," came his sleek voice, jade eyes staring at her reflection within the water with a look Kagome didn't quite like.

"E-Excuse me?" the demon seemed a little too pleased with her meek voiced response.

"My father – Lord Eisuke. You never did answer."

"A-Answer?"

"Yes. You were asked if the rumours are true…that you're that mongrel's whore." Kagome's teeth dug further into her lip, as she refrained from retorting the way she would have _wished _to. No, she _knew_ that smacking that smug look off his face would only cause more trouble for the family that had been so kind to her. The very same family that had rapidly become so important to her.

"And how do you expect me to answer, _Satoru_," she responded, almost through her teeth, deliberately forgetting her politeness. She would _never_ call such an arrogant brute _Lord_ anything!

"With the truth, My dear," he purred, leaning down so that his breath skimmed the raven hair hanging loosely by her ear. "I've never taken the time to look at humans before killing them, but after admiring your delectable self, I find it easy to believe that a demon would drop so low as to crave a human's flesh…particularly if the human were as – _well-endowed_ as you are…" Kagome shuddered as the hot breath steamed in her ear, a hand resting on her shoulder.

Flinching from the touch, Kagome felt an overwhelming claustrophobic feeling building inside her. "I'm _not_ some whore..." she growled under her breath, her brave voice the total opposite to how she felt on the inside. "And to talk down to such…kind, good-hearted, _strong_ people that are worth five-_thousand_ of you is just…you're not even worthy of the air you breathe!" The girl winced, letting out a small scream before it was strangled into silence by the clawed hand crushing against her windpipe.

"And I suppose _you are_ worth breathing the same air as us demons?!" he spat in fury. "_YOU_, who lies with a half-breed – He's not _anything_! He doesn't belong here! I honour his old man for putting up with him as long as he did! Any other demon would've slit his little throat before he drew his first unworthy breath!"

Suddenly a loud _smack _sounded, Satoru dropping Kagome to the ground. The priestess looked up, mahogany eyes widening as she saw the crimson mark across Satoru's cheek resulting from a full-force slap, beside him standing an out-of-breath Izayoi, dark eyes burning with anger. "Y-You…You bitch-"

"-You utter filth!" The woman's voice trembled with fury as she cut across his insult, "For _years_ I've watched in silence, _years _I've watched you seize _anything_ that gave my little boy any _shred_ of happiness in his otherwise miserable life and tear it to shreds! You foul-tongued little worm!!!" Even Kagome flinched as the woman seized the blade in Satoru's belt, yanking it into her hands and swiping the razor edge across Satoru's cheek. A thin line of blood wept form the gash. "It's scum like you that destroyed my son's childhood. People that are too narrow-minded to see that the half-demons, the humans and demons that dare to love another regardless of their species, THEY are the strong ones and you – _YOU_ ARE WEAK!!!" Dropping the sword to the ground, Izayoi leapt forward, smacking the young demon with all she had. Losing his footing, Satoru stumbled back, collapsing onto the earth not far from where Kagome still knelt, shocked by the maddened outburst of a woman she'd imagined to be devoid of _any_ anger. _A woman scorned_, Kagome's mind began, snapping back to reality with Lady Izayoi's voice. "My husband, my _mate_ may ignore your jibes because of your _arrogant_ father's alliance to him, but _I_ will suffer in silence _no_ longer!"

"IZAYOI!" Kagome and Satoru flinched at the raised voice that echoed through the gardens, watching on as Izayoi turned casually, her lady-like grace and tranquillity returned, as she faced Inu-no-Taishou.

"Yes, Dearest?" Izayoi replied quietly, as her mate stormed over to her.

"What are you doing?!" Kagome couldn't help but feel her whole being tremble in fear at that usually so warm and gentle voice raised in anger. The demon lord's golden eyes flashed an angry crimson as the woman ignored his question, simply walking past him, heading towards the great archways that lead back inside. "IZAYOI! DON'T YOU **DARE** TURN AWAY FROM ME!" Izayoi, who Kagome had _never _seen disobey or anger her husband before, stopped in her tracks, turning to give him a complacent glance.

"If you didn't turn your back on your son's pain I wouldn't have to."

Inu-no-Taishou growled.

"How can you say that I've done anything _but_ think of Inuyasha in all of this?! THIS IS ALL FOR HIM!!!"

"Your son needs more than an _Honourable Ruler_ to fight for his equality. He needs his father to fight for his happiness as well…"

"All I've ever strived for is for his happiness! Don't play the _'Great Wise Izayoi' _and talk down to _ME _- wench!"

"Calm yourself, I shall not dispute with you while you're under influence of that foul temper of yours-"

"DON'T TALK DOWN TO ME LIKE I'M A CHILD!!!"

"Kagome," the said girl jumped slightly as the woman spoke her name softly. "Will you come with me for a moment?" Kagome looked from Izayoi to Inu-no-Taishou, debating whether or not to obey, especially as it looked like Inu-no-Taishou was about to strike his mate. Nervously the girl got to her feet, following after the woman, who left her silently raging mate behind.

***

Inu-no-Taishou snarled under his breath as he threw open the door to the room that served as his study. Rage still flowing through his blood like fire on oil, it was becoming increasingly hard to control his full-demon temper with all of it all pent up. About to throw himself down in his chair in what Izayoi (on the rare occasion that they fought) aggravatingly called a 'tantrum', when he saw his two sons standing before the desk.

"Boys, not now, please," he sighed, trying to keep his tone down and not sound angry with them. "Whatever it is, now is _not_ a good time to-"

"-Well when _is_ it a good time to discuss how you used my mother as a whore?!" Sesshōmaru's eyes widened in uncertainty, apprehensive of his already fuming father's reaction to Inuyasha's bluntness.

"Inuyasha? What did you-"

"-I heard it okay! From fucking Satoru, which is even _worse_!" Inuyasha cut across his obviously bewildered father, a growl rumbling through his reverberating voice.

"Watch your language, Inuyasha, what's the matter with you?" Both full-demons jumped slightly as Inuyasha stormed forwards, lashing out and swatting the objects on the large desk off onto the floor, glass shattering everywhere.

"YOU old man, YOU'RE MY PROBLEM!!! WERE YOU EVER GONNA TELL ME HOW MY BIRTH _INCONVENIENCED _THE BOTH OF YOU?!!!"

"Inuyasha, you don't understand, we-"

"No, I understand _perfectly_…" Inuyasha growled. "You were both in it for your own selfish reasons right? You for a rut and Mother for the protection of her family and the others in that fucking place!"

"Inuyasha, LISTEN TO ME!"

"No YOU LISTEN!!!" The demon lord narrowed his reddening eyes at his youngest son, but fell silent for Inuyasha's following words.

"You…You are a liar…"

"Inuyasha-"

"-You've been lying to me for two-hundred years!" The half-demon yelled, cutting off his brother's voice as he tried to intervene. "You two didn't have this _bullshit_ romance that you'd have sacrificed everything for! Mother and you were just _convenient _for each weren't you? And when I came along, tarnishing her _innocence _and _purity_, you _had_ to accept me and her as your family 'because otherwise the whole demon world would know you used a _human_ for a rut!" Tears of both anger and misery pricked at the half-demon's eyes as his voice dropped to a near whisper. "Did you even love me? Did you even really feel _any_ kind of happiness when I was born?" The room fell silent. "You didn't love her right?! So you didn't love me either?!"

"Inuyasha, please-"

"-All this 'equality' shit is just crap! EVERYBODY knows that Sesshōmaru is your heir, your preferred, your _real_ son, I'm…I'm just your inconvenience – Your 'mistake', right?!"

"Inuyasha-"

"-It doesn't fucking matter anymore! Everyone knew it but I'VE only just realised how true it is! I HATE YOU!!!"

"INUYASHA, ENOUGH!" The half-demon stopped, dead silent, not meeting his father's eyes.

"Understand me, Inuyasha…" Inu-no-Taishou said softly as possible, Sesshōmaru regarding them closely from his place beside Inuyasha. "The world is a dark, cruel place, and no matter what you try to achieve, it'll always try to tear you down… I loved Sesshōmaru's mother, passionately, unbelievably, and when she died bringing Sesshōmaru into this world I…I felt like all the vitals in my body were torn from me at once, and my heart was still struggling to keep me working all on it's own… I felt like I'd died… I never thought I'd ever be able to feel _anything_ again…"

"Father, don't you'll just-"

"-Five-hundred years had passed, and a gap where she used to be still throbbed painfully in my heart," Inu-no-Taishou said quietly, cutting across Sesshōmaru's words. "By chance I met a human, a princess, the most beautiful human woman I'd ever seen. So young yet she looked on me with such knowing, wise, worldly eyes; dark eyes that reached my soul like no others had done for centuries.

"No, I didn't love her then…she, intrigued me you might say…I began to find myself unintentionally keeping track of her, meeting her dutifully in the same place. She talked with me, at first simple, honest talk of the world, and then…deeper, personal feelings and thoughts that I'd never shared with anyone. She opened me up to the world again, erasing the hurt that Sesshōmaru's mother had left behind… She became my friend, Inuyasha." Inu-no-Taishou met Inuyasha's eyes at last, "The demon, Ryuukotsusei attacked her home, and naturally, I put a stop to it, not managing to kill him, but nevertheless getting him away from it. However, a human by the name of Takemaru of Setsuna _somehow_ managed to take credit for his defeat, and her family offered her off to him in marriage as some kind of…payment." Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru didn't miss the growl in their father's voice as he managed the last word. "She met me in the usual place, and she…she confessed her love to me."

"So Mother told you she loved you and asked you to take her away so you wouldn't have to marry Takemaru, right?" Inuyasha asked, not thinking this story was much better.

"No, quite the opposite. She told me because she was going to go through with it. If you knew your mother at _all_, Inuyasha, you'd know that she wouldn't have asked that of me if she knew how much I still clung to the memory of Sesshōmaru's mother. But…for some reason I…I couldn't bear to think of her with somebody else, and when I saw those tears in her eyes, they…they undid me. I couldn't bear it. It wasn't until I saw her crying, over _me_, crying because she knew we could _never_ be together, that I realised how deep the feelings that had slowly developed in my heart were. And like it was some spell all of a sudden thrown over us it just – happened." Inuyasha raised a brow.

"So I just 'happened'?" he asked sarcastically, still sounding bitter.

"Not you, you idiot. _'It'._" The half-demon blushed as Sesshōmaru, who seemed to have understood it a little better, corrected him.

"After that, every time we met it just seemed like some form of unnamed intoxication that drew us together. And then one day, she never turned up, nor the day after that, or the day after that…Four days passed before I went to her castle myself, and found out what was wrong. I found out that your mother was pregnant, Inuyasha." Inuyasha frowned. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to hear that his arrival ruined everything for the two of them.

"Stop it; just stop it okay I don't-"

"-You will listen, Inuyasha." His father's voice commanding, and even though it wasn't a shout, Inuyasha felt compelled to obey, even as angry and upset as he was.

***

Gazes varying between awe, honour and horror struck the faces of the servants, some bowing so low their noses were barely inches from the floor and some turning in disgust. So many different opinions and feelings towards the great dog-demon as he strode through the halls of what these humans called a 'castle'. Regardless of the looks and whispers that the foolish servants and guards thought he couldn't see nor hear, Inu-no-Taishou pushed open the doors to the room that held Izayoi's scent the strongest, the poor little servant who was meant to announce his presence strides behind him, not able to keep up.

"M-My Lord!" The little man squeaked, quite out of breath as he finally reached the room, "Lord Inu-no-Taishou to see the Princess."

"Thank you, that will be all." With that the small servant left, Inu-no-Taishou alone in this room, (which the demon lord could tell must've been Izayoi's) with this dark haired man, who was regarding the demon with a familiar fear in his onyx eyes.

"I presume you've come to call in light of…_it_?" Inu-no-Taishou narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I have come to ask after Lady Izayoi. The humans of this village say she has bee sent away, however, I can still sense her. She's here somewhere in the castle." A long silence fell, and Inu-no-Taishou grew tired of waiting for the man to answer him. "I wish to see her."

"Indeed," came the human's deep, slightly intimidated voice. The demon lord followed after the human that lead him back outside.

He had presumed that human royalty lived in the main house, in fact his interest in human's allowed him to know this for a fact, and yet this man had lead him through to a building on the far side of the castle's estate, and in through a guarded door and into what Inu-no-Taishou felt, was a dark, suffocating room. Low ceilings, heavy, nearly impenetrable curtains adorning the windows and dark furniture made up the room, and when he saw her, laying fast asleep on a futon at the far wall, Inu-no-Taishou knew what was going on here.

"_What_ is she doing in a place like this?" he growled, "this is squalor!"

"This is payment for her sin," the man said simply.

"Sin? What sin?"

"The adulterous wench betrayed her engagement to Lord Takemaru of Setsuna! It was one thing for her to lie with a demon but to allow herself to fall pregnant with a _half-demon_!" Inu-no-Taishou's golden eyes widened.

"What did you just say?"

"That is why she is here, and will remain so until the pregnancy has passed, then she shall be true to her promise and give her hand to Lord Takemaru." The demon lord wanted to rip this man's offensive tongue out! And while he was at it, evisceration and possible decapitation was looking pretty appealing too! But he wouldn't do that, kill a feeble human like this, especially since he could tell this was none other than Izayoi's father.

"I assume you wish to…" the man paused, walking over to the futon on which Izayoi slept, pulling aside the thin white material suspended over it from the ceiling. Inu-no-Taishou walked swiftly over to the bed side, seeing the woman curled up with her arms predictably around her stomach, which Inu-no-Taishou could already tell, had none other than _his_ child inside of it. _What have I done?_ "We assumed to let her have it, after all, we have no way of killing _it_ without killing her, so…"

"So?" Inu-no-Taishou repeated, anger surfacing, wondering what this man that dared called himself a father intended to do with his daughter, and all because she was pregnant? _Ludicrous_, the demon lord thought. _But then, this is a half-demon, __**no one**__ would think twice about it…_

"It is well known that demons and half-demons are born immaturely to what _we_ call a 'full-cycle' correct?" Inu-no-Taishou nodded slowly, knowing full well that it was Izayoi herself who must have disclosed this information, no one else in the vicinity remotely worldly enough to know of _anything_ demon.

"Don't tell me," Inu-no-Taishou began, suddenly realising something, "don't tell me you intended to keep her hidden – in _here_, until the child was born?" The human sneered.

"What else would one do with her, whilst she's carrying that _thing_ she's not fit to breath the same air as the rest of us-"

"-She's your daughter, _Human_," Inu-no-Taishou growled under his breath, trying to beat down his anger, not wanting to wage a battle with Izayoi's family.

"Yes, and as a father, it is my job to see her doing right, repenting for her sins, and doing well in the world."

"By doing well, you mean killing her child because it is a demon's, and marrying Takemaru because he is either rich or will prove somehow beneficial to yourself as an ally, correct?" The man feigned shock._ These bastard humans, selling their children off like cattle! _

"I take it you disapprove of my methods?" Inu-no-Taishou didn't answer him, he didn't need to, the look of rage on his face said it all. "Well in any case, different method, same result, you will deal with it then, I imagine?" Inu-no-Taishou blinked a moment, confused, that is, until he saw the human lord glancing at the swords at his waist.

"You expect me to kill it?"

"But of course, why else would you have come?"

"I…" For the first time in a long while, Inu-no-Taishou's voice faltered. He was speechless. Would he kill it? _Could _he? It was his and Izayoi's baby wasn't it? But…it would be a half-demon… The demon was drawn from his thoughts as Izayoi's father stepped aside, motioning with his frail, human hand to the sleeping woman on the bed. _He's waiting for me to do it… Kill it!_ Inu-no-Taishou started at the sudden rage in his thoughts, no in his soul. _Kill the abomination!_ His inner instincts as a demon, versus his conscious emotions and feelings, he suspected, either way, they both waged war against each other in his head, making him want to smack it against the wall just to get them to stop. _Kill it! – No, you can't! – Yes you can! _

"I can't…" Inu-no-Taishou muttered almost inaudibly. "I_ won't._"

***

"Your mother's family were keeping her out of sight until you were born, so they could get rid of you, and still give Izayoi's hand in marriage to Takemaru. Her father assumed I'd come here to get rid of you from inside her, and stepped aside, watching, _waiting_ for me to do so. So I was faced with a decision…" Inuyasha's ears slicked back against his head, the fact that his father, who for as long as he could remember, had pampered and doted on him, was talking about trying to kill him was just too much for his mind to manage.

"Father, stop this, you're only-"

"-Silence Sesshōmaru." The younger demon fell silent at his father's words. "Your mother was lying there asleep, Inuyasha. Her father was asking me to get rid of you, my inner demon and everything that I _had_, even my lands demanded it if I were to keep them. But I didn't. Because-"

"-Because I was a _mistake_ of yours that you were responsible for!" Inuyasha cut across. Suddenly Inu-no-Taishou leapt forwards, and Inuyasha yelped as his father smacked the side of his face. Staring at his father in pure shock, at being struck by his hand for the first time he could remember.

"Don't _ever_ say things like that. _You_, no one can _ever_ understand how precious you are to me." Inuyasha's ears pricked slightly. "When I saw you for the first time, such a vulnerable, distressed child born into a world that hated you before you even took first breath, all because I was a demon, and loved your human mother. I've never _felt_ such an overwhelming desire to protect something. You don't get it do you? Demon children, when they're young, in their lacking of control over their powers, they're outright dangerous! You, you demanded so much attention and coddling, and protection. If there's _anything_ you can trust in this world it's how much we care about you." Such soft words from such a gruff voice didn't sound right, but Inuyasha's ears perked all the more in any case, as if he were a small child.

"So…you _don't_ hate me?"

"Brat," Sesshōmaru growled, making Inuyasha smirk.

"Then _why_ didn't you say something?!" The half-demon barked at his older brother.

"Because, there were circumstances and events that may have been necessary for you to understand, things I can't have known. Father's _love-life_ with your mother is none of my business, nor do I wish it to be."

"So…Satoru was lying?" Inuyasha asked quietly, receiving a glare off his father.

"That boy…you should know by now not to listen to him. You've been fighting since I can remember, Inuyasha. Don't take all the things people like him say to heart." Inuyasha nodded slowly, partially ashamed at believing it even for a moment.

"I'm sorry Dad," Inuyasha mumbled.

All three of them jumped at the sudden, rampant hammering on the other side of the door.

"Come in."

Before those two words had even finished leaving Inu-no-Taishou's mouth the door flung open, a bloodied up soldier, gasping for breath, not minding the crimson fluid that leaked off his head onto the _once_ valuable rug spread across the floor. _Nothing_ stayed in this family long without getting blood on it.

"Mr Lord, they stormed the borders, but the messenger was taken down before he got here, they stormed the walls, My Lord!" The three demons watched him, both horrified and confused.

"They?"

Yes, My Lord," The demon nodded wildly, his breaths coming out in short, fast rasping noises. "They breached our defences and stormed the castle. They're inside!"

"_Who_, Boy? Who is inside?!" Inu-no-Taishou demanded.

"The Revolutionaries, My Lord." Inuyasha's eyes widened in pure horror at his sudden realisation.

"This whole thing was set up," he growled out, darting through the doorway and speeding down the halls without so much as a second glance back at his brother. _This __**whole**__ thing was somehow set up. The revolutionaries must've known something; they must've been watching us! And all of it was done to set us all against each other, and for me to leave Kagome alone!_

***

Kagome bit her lower lip nervously as she and Izayoi walked slowly through one of the upper halls, one of the only parts of the castle Kagome had ever seen. It was with that notion, that she realised for the most of her time here, she'd only seen inside Inuyasha's bedroom, the dungeons and a brief glance at the gardens and main hall. _This place is huge! I'm never gonna remember where everything is!_ As if reading her mind, Izayoi responded to her awe struck face with a warm smile.

"I know, it's a bit grand for us mortal girls isn't it?" she laughed softly, "It took me a bit of getting used to as well. Just you wait," the woman said the last past with a pensive look, "when you have children you'll realise what a pain it is to keep track of a small rambunctious baby in this place, _especially _when they learn to walk." Kagome smirked at the image of a little Inuyasha having full run of this place.

Suddenly Izayoi stopped, and Kagome glanced confusedly at her, until the woman turned the ornate knob on the door, leading the priestess inside. Kagome's head practically spun when she saw the inside of the grand room. It was twice the size of Inuyasha's room – which was saying something! A luxuriously crimson coloured material dressed the grand bed, draped over it from the ceiling and pooling on the ground around it. Izayoi couldn't help but smile at Kagome's expression as she continued to take in the sight of the room, hazel eyes coming to rest upon the full length wall hangings which adorned the walls. Some of historic battles that Inu-no-Taishou's ancestors had fought centuries ago, some of Inu-no-Taishou himself with what Kagome could only guess was his own father. But what caught her attention was the painstakingly embroidered wall-hanging, with the four images of Inu-no-Taishou, Izayoi, what Kagome deducted to be the demon equivalent of an _adolescent_ Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha, who didn't look anything more than around three years old.

"Did – did someone really _make_ that?" Kagome practically gasped, Izayoi nodded. "It must've taken them _forever_!"

"No dear, just a long while," Izayoi responded with amusement at her astonished expression.

"C-Couldn't they have just painted it?"

"Well, yes I imagine so, but Inu-no-Taishou had it made when Inuyasha and I first came to the castle. I expect he wanted to include our slightly strange family in this," she paused to look around at the family crests and history that adorned the walls. Kagome blinked.

"How much did it cost him to have made?" Izayoi shrugged.

"I'm not sure. He does shower me and the boys with rather extravagant gifts sometimes though, so I shouldn't imagine he spared any expense on it," Kagome was still reeling from the fact that Izayoi had called Inuyasha and Sesshomaru _'boys'_.

"Umm, Lady Izayoi?" Kagome asked meekly, finally tearing her eyes from what she guessed was some form of family tree, decorated in a type of gold-leaf design.

"Kagome, just call me Izayoi," the woman said gently, "I don't expect formalities from family." Still reeling from that statement, the Kagome continued.

"W-What's it like…to know you'll live forever…and you'll never grow any older?" Izayoi watched her strangely for a moment, seating herself on the bed and patting it beside her, gesturing for Kagome to sit.

"I called you up here because I wanted to see if you needed to talk, and I guess you do. I'm not sure what it feels like exactly, all I know is that it's a sacrifice I willingly made to be with the man I love." Kagome was confused.

"Is it really a sacrifice though? I mean I…I feel like I'm using Inuyasha to stay young forever." Izayoi smiled again, that warm motherly smile that Kagome was becoming very attached to.

"Inuyasha doesn't see it that way Kagome, I promise you. Amongst demons, their mortal mate becoming immortal with them is considered a big sacrifice on the human's part. It means they have to watch their human families and friends grow old and die, have to suffer demon trials and the ages of the world. But as for a human _using_ a demon to gain eternal youth, that's why most demons, especially canine demons mate for life. Your life-span and soul is tied to the demon. If you go through with this, you can't change your mind, Inuyasha will be your one and only, and you'll never be able to _'be' _with any body else. Kagome frowned.

"I wouldn't _want_ to be with anybody else."

"No, no, no, I know you wouldn't that's not what I meant. I just… Kagome, dear, you have to know…it's not always going to be an easy task, being with the man you love…"

The priestess watched the older woman quietly, before she got the courage to speak up again.

"You mean…like the argument you had with lord Inu-no-Taishou?" Izayoi nodded slowly.

"Kagome? Can I ask you something?" Kagome looked bewildered.

"Of course."

"Well, I just-" Suddenly, the woman's voice cut off, a the sound of voices. Thousands and thousands of screams it seemed, raging through the two women's ears. Izayoi leapt to her feet, making Kagome start.

"What is it? What's-"

"-Something's wrong," the woman replied, dark eyes widening in horror. "Come. Quickly." Izayoi snatched Kagome's wrist, practically yanking her arm from the socket as the woman dragged her through a door the opposite side the way they'd come in. A door that Kagome hadn't noticed until that moment.

Flinging open the door, Izayoi pulled Kagome into what Kagome could only call a nursery. A child's cradle and toys standing tidily in their place. _Was this…is this Inuyasha's old nursery?_ She didn't have time to ask. Izayoi let go of the young girl's hand, running her long, pale fingers over the intricate carvings of the marble fireplace, tracing every contour and crevice. Until… Kagome let out a little squeal of surprise as the fireless grate slid back, leaving a dark, foreboding passageway.

"A secret passage?" Kagome asked. Izayoi nodded brusquely. Seizing hold of Kagome's arm again, Izayoi hastened them both inside, stopping briefly only to pull what Kagome saw (through the dimness) as a lever of some kind, the grate sliding back into place, taking with it all light. She and Izayoi were sitting in the thick blackness and as Kagome heard the woman get hastily to her feet, she tried to follow. Stumbling to her feet, her legs faltered. Suddenly, whether it was because of the darkness or not, Kagome felt a nauseating dizziness spin her in the dark, and she fell. "Kagome!" she heard in a desperate whisper. Warm arms encircled her, pulling her to her feet. "Come on Kagome, just a little further." Kagome winced at the pain rushing through her body from the fall. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Where are we?" She felt her arm pulled round Izayoi's shoulder, and the jerking movement of the woman assisting her in walking onwards.

"A hidden passage. On the rare occasion the castle was infiltrated, I used to bring Inuyasha in here and we used to hide until Inu-no-Taishou came and got us. I know this place like the back of my hand. The only people it's known to are myself, Inuyasha and Inu-no-Taishou. It's safe." Kagome nodded, though the woman wouldn't be able to see the gesture.

She felt sick, she felt exhausted, dizzy, like she was going to pass out. She wanted Inuyasha.

"I don't feel so good…"

"It's okay," Izayoi assured her, "rest here; it's the central most part of the castle. It's safe here." Kagome winced as Izayoi awkwardly let Kagome slide down the cold stone wall and onto her bottom.

"I-Izayoi?" Kagome asked, a flustered, claustrophobic feeling rising up within he with the dark and the panic. "What's happening? Where's Inuyasha? What's-"

"-Shush!" At the frantic whisper, Kagome silenced, feeling Izayoi drop down next to her. "Listen." Thundering footsteps echoed all around them, beyond the walls of the secret passageway, Kagome imagined. Running, people were running, that's what she could hear. And Screaming. Deafening screams that made her pulse rise in terror. _Inuyasha._ _Where is Inuyasha?!_

TBC

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A/N: Likey? Review? Maybe? K, I realised something whilst watching my Inuyasha dvds last night, that my character Satoru (Lord Eisuke's son) has the same name as a little boy Kagome and Inuyasha help in Episode 12. Never mind though, it's not the same Satoru (since that little boy was _adorable_ and this 'grown-up' guy is a feckin ass ^_^) Neways, I've had suggestions or more like people would like to see some Inuyasha kiddie flashbacks, is there anyone else that would? just asking, if anyone thinks it'd be interesting/cute whatever I'll give it a shot. Another idea was a flashback of when Inuyasha was little and Sesshomaru would be in it too, but they're both ideas from the same person so, does anybody agree with them? Review please readers ^_^

Love Shigure-san

x chuu x


	8. 8 Eyes Of Reminiscence

Author's Note:

TThanks for your lovely reviews, I really didn't think this story'd take off but it seems a lot of you like it so it pleased me ^.^

Enjoy, Love, Review!

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Eyes Of Reminiscence

Eight

_Sesshomaru sighed as he leaned against the archway that marked the entrance the grand gardens, the lustrous natural beauty which Inu-no-Taishou recently had altered to suit the tastes of Izayoi. _"Nonsense",_ Sesshomaru remembered saying to his father, _"such a trifling thing could not please a woman"**,**_ but he was wrong, Izayoi had liked it, in fact she'd showered his father with endless thanks and smiles, as he walked her through it for the first time, her arm in his. But it seemed that another besides Izayoi had taken a liking to the new gardens. Sesshomaru's eyes watched the silver head of the little half-demon dart in and out of the shrubberies, striving to keep up with the games of the others._

_It wasn't apparent to Sesshomaru, when he'd _**exactly**_ started watching his little brother like a hawk, but he knew it was something to do with when his father had ordered him to _**'**baby-sit'_ the half-demon back when he first came to the castle. For that was the time he'd realised that he wasn't quite as repulsed by this _'half-breed'_ as he'd thought prior to his arrival in the castle, in fact, he'd secretly found he quite enjoyed his prudishness and laughter. Hence though Sesshomaru would always protest greatly to playing with Inuyasha, he honestly didn't mind in the least. And while Inuyasha may delight in having his big brother indulge him in his games, he wanted to play with the other children as well, like a_normal_child would. _Only Inuyasha can't see that they **aren't** playing with him, _Sesshomaru thought, _they're teasing him, **tormenting** him…

"_Go and get the ball moron!" Sesshomaru was shaken from his recollections at the sound of another child's voice, and seeing Inuyasha's hair whip round through the greenery, darting after the ball which had landed conveniently at Sesshomaru's feet. Inuyasha ran forwards, pausing only a few inches before Sesshomaru, raising his head to stare up at his brother with large golden eyes. _

"_Good afternoon, Little Brother. What are you doing?" Sesshomaru asked in his usual monotone. A wide smile spread across Inuyasha's face. Sesshomaru blinked. _

"_Satoru and the others are letting me play with them, Sesshomaru!" he practically squealed in excitement, snatching the ball up into his hands, but still standing and staring curiously at his brother. The demon lord almost smiled, glad that the half-demon's fangs had finally come through properly, and no longer had that temporary 'lisp' that was caused by them growing through, which made his name, 'Sesshomaru', sound something more along the lines of 'Sessoumawu', or even worse - 'Sesshy'. Those times when Inuyasha had called him either of those names made him want to slam his head against the wall. _Thankfully,_ Inuyasha had finally started to grow out of it._

"_Hey! You what're you-" Sesshomaru looked up upon hearing that familiar voice, seeing the source of it come dashing out from behind the foliage, followed by four other children. The demon lord smirked at how his sentence had faltered upon seeing Sesshomaru there, yes it was amusing._

"_I didn't see them playing with you, Little Brother," the demon said, causing Inuyasha to frown slightly, and the other's to shudder in the insinuation of those words._

"_But they were! They were Sesshomaru," Inuyasha pouted. "They were letting me play ball with them!"_

"_Indeed. They were _letting_ you play games with them in _your _gardens?" the children swallowed slightly at the glare they each received in turn. "Just see to it you aren't the brunt of any jokes, Little Brother." Inuyasha blinked, not really understanding, but that didn't matter, the message was aimed at Satoru and the others._

_Despite the happiness in Inuyasha's face as he ran off after the others, Sesshomaru knew that if the half-demon had any idea what those children were _really_ doing when they _'played'_ with him, he wouldn't be happy at all. They were being cruel to him, and Inuyasha couldn't see it._

"_Father." Inu-no-Taishou turned slowly in the chair of his study, glancing over to his oldest son._

"_Sesshomaru, how are you doing? Is there something I can do for you?" _

"_Father you have to stop this, that boy - Satoru and the others, they torment him! Treat him like dirt under their feet when really they should be showing him respect. He's their better and they treat him like shit!"_

"_Sesshomaru." The younger demon silenced at the gentle warning in his father's voice, "watch your language, I'll not have my heirs using such profanities." Sesshomaru nodded slowly._

"_I apologise, Father. However I-"_

"_-Children will be children, my son; playing with them makes Inuyasha happy, and in doing so they may come to see what many of the demons today do not, that Inuyasha is no different from them."_

"_They do not, Father, you cannot see because you're too blinded by your ideals of Inuyasha's life - blinded by your desperate need for Inuyasha face-value happiness, but they're mocking him. You're so optimistic and hopeful for his life that you can't see that-"_

"_-I _can_ see, Sesshomaru. Why do you think that I brought him here in the first place? Because there are people who look down on both him and his mother, and I won't have them trodden down like that." Sesshomaru watched as his father leaned back in his chair and sighed, rubbing his temples with his clawed fingers. "Trust me Sesshomaru, one day, everything will be okay. I promise." Sesshomaru turned, departing the room. _You've said that to me before, Father,_ Sesshomaru thought, _back when I was still a child, a good seven-hundred years ago…

_Descending the stairs, Sesshomaru glanced thoughtfully out the archways that overlooked the gardens that Inuyasha and his mother had taken so kindly to. _I suppose such a lively little thing needs fresh air and the scents of wildlife in his lungs_, he thought affectionately, pausing on the stairs, scouring the grounds for his younger brother. His mature, golden eyes found him, but the sight far from pleased him. Reaching up with his hands he pulled himself up swiftly onto the ledge. Leaping from it he landed square on his feet on the ground below._

"_Stop it! STOP IT PLEASE! MAKE THEM STOP!" Roars of laughter sounded through the courtyard, the cruel hollow laughter of the children as Inuyasha's clawed fingertips dug into the bark of the tree, his claws clutching, hanging desperately into the branches as he scrambled up. "PLEASE!!! CALL THEM OFF!!!" _

"_You're a dog demon aren't you? Call them off yourself!" Satoru goaded, smirking at the snarling dogs snapping at Inuyasha small feet as he tried to pull himself higher. "Or isn't that just it? __**Half-Breed**__!" Inuyasha whimpered, hearing the familiar insult but not understanding it - not caring, just struggling to yank himself upwards. "Half-breed, even the dogs know! Even the lowest form of creature knows you're less than them! YOU'RE A HALF-BREED! NOT EVEN A PERSON! YOU'RE A THING!" _

"_ENOUGH!!!" Inuyasha turned his head at the sound of his brother's voice raised. Sesshomaru raised his hand, claws catching into flesh as he backhanded the child's face._

"_AAAAAAAH!!!!" A morbid look of satisfaction crossed Sesshomaru's features as the boy, Satoru stumbled backwards, landing on his backside and rolling in the dirt in pure agony. "My face! My face is burning!!!" _

"_You damned whippet! May it burn that goading look of triumph from your repulsive face!"_

_The boy let out a squeal as the four long gashes from Sesshomaru's claws burned with the poison. "MAKE IT STOP!" Sesshomaru's mouth quirked into a sneer._

"'Make it stop?'_ Isn't that what Inuyasha asked? Don't _ever_presume you can torment a member of _this_ family and get away with it you bastard child! When I'm the lord here I'll hang your type by your fingers, and let my poison eat you alive from the inside out!" Sesshomaru couldn't help but fail to let the smile drop from his face at hearing the spiteful creature's cries of pain. _

"_SESSHOMARU!" Turning, roused from his amusement by his younger brother's screaming plea. Darting forwards, the dogs turned on feeling Sesshomaru's presence, fixing him with a glaring look, snarling viciously. Returning their snarls with a stern growl, the dogs yelped, ears dropping against their heads as they limped away, unharmed but certainly fearful, tails determinedly between their legs._

"_Drop, Little Brother, its safe now." Upon hearing Sesshomaru's words, Inuyasha's claws retracted from the bark, and he allowed himself to drop down. Catching his younger brother under his arms, (and mindful of his claws) Sesshomaru set Inuyasha gently on his feet. _

"_I'm sorry Sesshomaru! I'm sorry! It's my fault! I-"_

"_-Stop apologising. It _wasn't_ your fault, in no way or form. They've been tormenting you like this for years, and for no good reason. It's not your fault, it's theirs, and they deserve to suffer for it." Inuyasha blinked his watering eyes at his brother nodding slowly, wiping his tear-strewn face on the baggy sleeve of his kimono._

"_Se-Sesshomaru…" Inuyasha began quietly, only just heard over Satoru's cries, "I-"_

"_What's going on here?"_

_Sesshomaru raised his gaze from Inuyasha, the little half-demon cowering behind Sesshomaru's silk-clad legs as their father entered the gardens, followed closely by Izayoi, Lord Eisuke and a few of the other elders. The voice was stern, and loud, but not raised. _

_"What's happened?" Glancing down at the screaming boy on the floor, and the other children backed as far into the shrubbery as possible. "Sesshomaru. What's happened?" When the question repeated, their father's voice was raised as loud as it could go without shouting. Inu-no-Taishou passed a fleeting look over the trembling Inuyasha, frowning slightly in confusion before stalking over to his sons, meeting Sesshomaru's eyes. "I can tell Sesshomaru. Those are your claw marks and that is your poison."_

"_What have you done?!" screamed Eisuke, darting over and cradling his agonised son. "Satoru! What happened?"_

"_Sesshomaru," the said demon tore his eyes from the sight of Eisuke and Satoru at his father's commanding tone. "Fix this. Fix him immediately." _

"_No."_

"_Sesshomaru."_

"_No Father."_

"_You strike down and child? Turn your poison on a child? You refuse to revoke it?"_

"_Yes, Father."_

_ Inu-no-Taishou frowned once more; he was beginning to get angry._

"_How dare you, a full grown demon turn your power against a mere boy?" the demon lord scolded, and Sesshomaru refrained from rolling his eyes. _

"_If the boy is old enough to set the dogs on Inuyasha - his physical and political better, and is old enough to attack a young mind and esteem, then he's old enough to accept the punishment for it." _

_Inu-no-Taishou watched him closely, his vibrant golden eyes swaying occasionally to Inuyasha, who was still looking up at him with unusually fearful eyes. _

_Slowly, the demon lord dropped down to his youngest son's level, prying his little clawed hand from Sesshomaru's kimono. _

"_Inuyasha?" said boy raised furrowed brows to his father's face. "Has it really been that bad?" he asked quietly, so quiet Inuyasha only just managed to hear. "Answer me honestly." Glancing quickly over to the boys lingering close by, and then back to his father, Inuyasha nibbled his lower lip timidly._

"_Yes Daddy…"_

_Eventually, after what seemed like forever, Inu-no-Taishou raised himself once again to his feet. _

"_Sesshomaru."_

"_Yes, Father?"_

"_I trust you," the demon lord said simply, taking Inuyasha's small hand, leading him away from the gardens. "Come, Inuyasha, I'll take you for a walk in the forest - the one you like so much…"_

_Sesshomaru knew what his father meant by those words_, "I trust you"._ He watched his father and brother disappear into the hall, and again, that smirk twitched at his lips. _

"_Well don't just stand there gawping at him!" Sesshomaru turned his nearly polite gaze to Lord Eisuke as he spoke. "Fix him!" The silver-haired demon moved forwards, the children and the other few demons taking a few steps back in response. _

"_On condition, Lord Eisuke," Sesshomaru said softly, "that the brat admits he was wrong…"_

"_What?! How _dare_ you?!" Sesshomaru ignored the outburst of the enraged, arrogant demon at Eisuke's side._

"_I'M SORRY!" Satoru howled, his hand clutched over the disintegrating flesh of his face, "I APOLOGISE! I WAS WRONG! MAKE IT STOP!" Sesshomaru sneered._

"_I can't hear you. Say it louder."_

"_I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!" Seeming to be accepting that as adequate apology, and moved forwards (none too quickly) and seized the boy by the scruff of his neck. Eisuke looked positively mortified as Sesshomaru pulled the boy's burning face close to his own, and to Satoru's absolute revulsion, the older demon allowed his gathered saliva to seep onto his face and into the wound, effectively sealing it. Dropping the boy carelessly on his backside, Sesshomaru stared down at him with expressionless eyes._

"_And let that be a lesson to you,_boy_." Even as his own words still rang inside his mind, Sesshomaru knew that no lesson would be learned; even if Satoru didn't, there would always be those who tormented Inuyasha, and he sure as hell wouldn't be able to catch them all red-handed. _But I can certainly **try**_, he thought. Realising that though Inuyasha's childish ability to be easily amused, had allowed him to have _this_ particular _incident_to be overlooked, it would not always be erased from his little mind. _

"_Sesshomaru?" The said demon turned upon hearing his name later on that day, as evening began to give way to night, fixing his golden gaze upon his father's mate. _

"_What is it, Lady Izayoi?" The human approached him slowly, laying a frail, delicate hand on his armoured shoulder. _

"_I wish to thank you, for what you did for Inuyasha today. I arrived on the scene the same time as you, but you acted before I, so I went to fetch Inu-no-Taishou…" She paused a moment, before venturing to continue, "I am not as fortunate as you, unable to show my true feelings for Lord Eisuke and his..._followers_," Sesshomaru's lips quirked into a smile upon realising the other words she would _much_rather have used. "Because I'm your father's mate, I can't retaliate in such a way." _

"_Indeed, and father does not understand… Though he loves Inuyasha dearly, I don't believe he is able to see how deeply the taunts and jibes cut into him. In any case, you don't need to thank me, your kind words and gestures would be better bestowed upon Inuyasha at this present time, comforting him after the day's events." Izayoi released his shoulder, taking a seat on the stone-carved bench next to Sesshomaru, both gazing thoughtfully at the fountain; a calm, quiet listener to every conversation or problem. _

"_He doesn't need consoling…not this time. Your father took him out to the forest today; the one Inuyasha seems to be keen on. He has named it after Inuyasha now," she said with one of her knowing smiles, the kind that caused Sesshomaru to hold such respect for her. She and Inuyasha had arrived in the castle when Inuyasha was only around forty years old (the demon equivalent of four), and in the last sixty or so years, Sesshomaru had come not only to revoke his hatred of Inuyasha, but on Izayoi as well. Growing out of his 'adolescent tantrum' the demon had come to quite like the both of them, and though _no one_ would ever replace his own mother, if there was anyone to be sitting at his father's side, where _his mother_ once was, he'd rather it was Izayoi. Izayoi who was so knowledgeable and open-minded, _especially_ for a human, so unselfish and caring, she wasn't like other humans, nor demons, in many ways Sesshomaru felt an unnamed similarity between them, provoking his acceptance of her._

"_Just like father," Sesshomaru sighed, "he doesn't know how to pacify Inuyasha's tears so he buys him off with overblown gestures." Izayoi turned to look at him._

"_It wasn't like that Sesshomaru, your father just wanted Inuyasha to be happy, and that's all." The demon met her eyes, blinking silently._

"_I suppose so."_

"_Sesshomaru?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Do you remember the first time you met Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru cocked a brow curiously at her question. Of course he did, demon abilities and frozen aging made his, (and any other high level demon) have exceptional memory capabilities. "Your father brought you over to my father's castle the night Inuyasha was born, and you both defeated Lord Takemaru. Do you remember?" Sesshomaru nodded slowly, still unsure of where this was headed._

"_Indeed, I recall, quite vividly in fact."_

_ The now eternally young woman smiled in recollection. _

"_I still remember it, the bewildered look on your face as your father passed Inuyasha to you." The demon's confusion only arose further as she sighed softly once more, her handsome face bearing a deep look of reminiscence. "You holding Inuyasha for the first time, now that was an image I believe I'll never forget."_

"_Lady Izayoi-"_

"_-Sesshomaru please. Sixty years I've shared a home with you and your father, and Inuyasha; not forgetting the forty odd years I'd known you before, don't you think it's about time you started calling me just 'Izayoi'?" She stared at him, bearing a kind of motherly insistence, which Sesshomaru wasn't used to._

_When the silver-haired demon had been silent for quite some time, Izayoi spoke once more, reverting back to her original subject. "You know how much you mean to Inuyasha, don't you?"_

"_I'm not sure I understand what you're implying."_

"_Even back then he followed you around like a little lost pup; he relies on you, even now, not just as his brother but as a man as well - a man who doesn't have many other people to rely on in this world. And should…should anything ever…happen to me…or Inu-no-Taishou….or even _both_ of us…Would you promise me you'll look after Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru frowned. _

"_What nonsense you speak, nothing will happen to you or father, you have no need of such a promise."_

"_Please, Sesshomaru. I'm asking you to promise me that you'll always look out for him, no matter what." Fixing her with a still very much perplexed gaze, Sesshomaru had to wonder where all this was coming from. _

"_I promise…"_

***

"Inuyasha!!!" The half-demon stopped at Sesshomaru's voice. "Be careful," Inuyasha frowned, "don't look at me like that, these revolutionaries are after her for more reason than we first thought, I'm _sure_ of it, and by throwing yourself between her and them like this, you're putting yourself in danger, understand?"  
"Of course I understand! I don't care! She's all I think about! She's all I need, all I breathe! I _won't_ let them hurt her anymore!"

Sesshomaru nodded.

"I understand, just make sure that when all is said and done, you bring my brother back as well as Kagome." Nodding resolutely, Inuyasha darted off down the corridor, swinging his legs over the banister to land in the halls below.

Screams filled the air, as did the fresh scent of blood, and it made his nose turn in disgust. Winding in and out of the frantic crowds, Inuyasha sniffed as hard as he dared, trying to get a fix on Kagome's location. _Shit, _he thought, _it's all mixed up; I can't separate one smell from the next!_ "Kagome!"

"My Lord! My Lord, Please help!" Inuyasha turned, meeting the face of one of the servants. "My Lord. What's happening? Why are they here? Who are they?"

"It's alright, just round up as many people as you can and lead everyone to the safe house. Sesshomaru is headed there to ensure everyone's safety, he'll protect you." The woman nodded hysterically, seizing the hand of the small girl beside her and shooting off in the direction she was instructed.

Even with the confusion and hassle of the people in the hall, Inuyasha knew where he was headed, where his _mother_ would go. Just under two-hundred-years he'd spent hiding and playing in the many passages, hidden _and_ unhidden, he knew them all by heart, could navigate them in the dark even. The castle wasn't infiltrated often, but when he was smaller, over the span of a year (_conveniently_ the first year he was there) they were attacked several times. After the Revolutionaries realised Inu-no-Taishou wasn't to be trifled with, the attacks stopped. _This is the first one in decades, but I can still remember what it was like back then…_

Brief flashes, came back to him then, as weaved deftly through the corridors and passageways that lay unnoticed to anyone else. Flashes of his mother bursting into his nursery, where he was playing, seizing his little body and pulling him desperately to her. His father was there too, hurrying the two of them into the _'Hiding place'_, mother shushing him all the while, even when the hollow beyond the walls fell dark with the closing of the secret door. He knew, just knew somehow that his mother would take Kagome there. _She was with her after all. Mother will keep her safe, I know she will…_

Practically throwing open the door to his parent's room, his racing heart easing slightly as he saw the door to the old nursery open. _That means they've been here, thank god!_ Following the old route into a room he spent a great deal of his childhood in, Inuyasha's eyes roamed the grand fire-place, clawed fingers snagging in that familiar recess, and pulling at the specific joint he remembered. As many times as he'd seen it, his eyes never failed to widen with awe as the doorway open to him, revealing the welcoming dark.

No sooner than his bare feet touched the cool stone inside the passage, than Inuyasha practically wanted to heave in revulsion. Bile and vomit, that's what he smelled, not at all like he remembered. The sweet smell of crushed herbs and incense, that's what he recalled, it was a smell that had always comforted him in the past, and the fact that it wasn't here now, that was unsettling. _I always thought this place was the safest in the world, and now to feel so…so anxious about it…it doesn't feel natural…_

"Kagome? Mother? Are you here?" he called as loudly as he dared, pulling the lever to close the entrance behind him.

"Inuyasha?" His ears pricked as he heard his mother utter his name, and darted forwards in the darkness, his heightened senses permitting his eyes to just make out the outline of his mother, with her arm round Kagome's shoulders. "Thank goodness you're safe, Inuyasha!" The half-demon dropped to their side.

"Kagome? Kagome, are you okay?" Kagome nodded slowly, reaching towards him with shaky arms.

"I feel really bad, Inuyasha…All dizzy…and…my whole body hurts…I feel really weak - I'm gonna be sick again."

"Again?" Inuyasha asked, jumping as Kagome suddenly threw herself from his chest, heaving up whatever was left in her stomach - or rather, what _wasn't_ in there.

"She was sick before, I guess the dizziness from the dark got to her," Izayoi whispered distantly, as Inuyasha rubbed Kagome's back gently.

"You're safe here. Father will send the signal soon…like he always does." He was saying it more to calm Kagome's nerves, which he could sense were fraying, along with her racing heartbeat. She was scared. Scrap that, she was _terrified_!

Gently patting Kagome's back a final time, Inuyasha got to his feet, waving his hand blindly around the shelf which he remembered was there, his fingers snagging hold of the incense candles. Kagome raised her head at seeing the flickering light, not realising what Inuyasha was doing until he had finished. Lighting the final candle, Inuyasha set the holder on the shelf, it wasn't for light, the tiny flickering flames didn't serve for much of that, but it would cover the smell that offended both Inuyasha's and Kagome's noses so strongly right now. He didn't think it wise she be sick again if she could help it, especially since he could tell there was nothing but bile to the last two times. There wasn't anything left in her stomach for her to bring back up.

"Here Kagome," Inuyasha said softly to her, stripping himself of his red kimono, bunching it up and laying it on the floor, pressing her head gently down to her make-shift pillow. "If you lie down you won't feel so dizzy." She nodded slightly, her hand squeezing his; as if afraid he'd disappear.

"Inuyasha…" the half-demon looked over in the direction of his mother's hushed voice.

"What is it Mother?"

"Inuyasha…I have something I think you should know…"

His heart missed a beat. It had calmed once he'd found Izayoi and Kagome, but on hearing the secretiveness in his mother's voice, panic began to rise once more.

"W-What's wrong?" He wet his lips nervously.

"I…come here one moment." Inuyasha glanced quickly down at Kagome in the darkness, seeing her eyes closed, obviously drifting somewhere between a light doze and awareness. Tugging his suddenly quivering hand gently from Kagome's hold, Inuyasha shuffled closer to his mother's side, watching her dark eyes for some sign, a clue for what was to come. "Do you trust me, Inuyasha?" The half-demon's dark brow quirked in bewilderment.

"M-Mother of course I do! Why would you-"

"-And you trust my judgement?"

"What's this all about?"

"I…I don't know if you'll take it as good news or bad news…given our current situation, and the situation with Katsura and the revolutionaries…But I…I have reason to believe that…Kagome is _expecting_…" Inuyasha's eyes widened.

"W-What? Are y-you saying that…?" His quiet voice trailed off, he didn't know what to say, or how to say it. For the moment he'd even seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

"I'm saying…I can tell…She's pregnant, I'm sure of it…"

TBC

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A/N: Not much else to say except sorry there wasn't as much InuyashaxKagome as you'd like. And please don't kill me for the cliffhanger, and the more people that review the more likely I am to update ^_^ So review 'cause you wuv me XD

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	9. 9 Wavering Faith

Wavering Faith

Nine

The air in the dim, overcrowded building hung thick with fear and anxiety, the people gathered in it starting to feel the growing claustrophobic feeling. Golden eyes darted over the many panicked people gathered in what Inuyasha _affectionately_ called the 'Safe house'. For the first time in years, the demon felt his insides twist together. Something was wrong. Kagome was the main target of this raid, and if _she_ was in danger, Inuyasha wouldn't be far behind. Sesshomaru hated it when his brother was in danger. Ever since he'd seen that frail, slight little frame for the first time, first felt how light and easily broken he was, he felt compelled to keep a watchful eye on him. He recalled vividly the days he'd watch a child Inuyasha go about the palace he resided in the first four years of his life – the times he'd snuck into Izayoi's room to check that Inuyasha was still safe in his cradle. Even when the half-demon and his mother were brought here, he still watched him closely – and as brothers now, they were never usually very far apart. But now…

_I couldn't help him with Kagome…and just now, I let him run off like that…if something happens to him I'll…_

"Sesshomaru!" The said demon spun on his heel, looking over the masses to see his father standing in the archway – the only entrance or exit to the hidden room, (save for the lower exit, that lead out into the mountains – used only in case the castle was fully over thrown. Never in his forefathers' reign had it need to be used, and hopefully, it never would). Darting over to his father's side, the demon grabbed him by his shoulders. He could read the anxiety in his father's eyes, and it made his own heart skip a beat. Something was wrong.

"Father. What's-"

"-Where's Inuyasha? And Izayoi and Kagome? Did you find them?" Sesshomaru shook his head slightly.

"No. Inuyasha headed off by himself to find them." His father looked at him oddly. "I'm sorry, Father. I should have gone with him, but I thought it was my duty to come here and protect-"

"-No, Sesshomaru, you did well. We have to protect these people too…" Sesshomaru followed his father's eyes as they wandered over the faces of the terrified people gathered here, relying solely on them.

"How did the patrol go?" Sesshomaru asked, finally breaking the silence between them. "Was it the-"

"-The Revolutionaries? Yes. And guess who was leading the little battalion?" The demon lord growled angrily, fist clenching at his side.

"It was Katsura, wasn't it Father?" Inu-no-Taishou nodded.

"That…Bastard…I entrusted him with my family…with our servants…he deserves the slowest form of deaths. Playing alongside me like some lap-dog, when all along _he_ was the one spitting our secrets to the enemy…when all along _he_ was the one who was trying to kill Inuyasha and Izayoi…"

Sesshomaru watched his father with furrowed brows, placing a reassuring hand on his father's shoulder.

"Father, we'll right this wrong… _No one_ is without mistakes; don't lay the blame entirely on yourself. Nobody else saw what he was-"

"-Izayoi did…"

"She what?" Inu-no-Taishou sighed, grating his fangs together in annoyance at his stupidity.

"Izayoi, she told me…when Kagome first came under Inuyasha's care… She told me that she thought maybe Katsura was a threat to Kagome… But I…I didn't listen to her, and now with this business with Satoru and Eisuke, I just…she thinks I've lost my faith in her…but in all truthfulness I…" The demon trailed off, rousing a foreign, worried emotion inside Sesshomaru.

"Father, in all my years of watching you, in hopes of one day surpassing you…I've never seen you waver or lose faith in yourself… What's wrong?"

"I've lost faith in nearly _everything_, Sesshomaru…"

The younger demon's eyes widened slightly. "All these years, I never realised how _futile_ my efforts have been…and in my blind hopes of making this fanciful _better world_ for my sons I've been ignorant to the youngest's pain…I…I should have taken more notice of him, I should have been able to see he was lying when he said he was alright…" The demon's claws punctured his palms as his fists clenched in his self-loathing. "Izayoi was right…I've been an _'Honourable ruler'_ but I…I haven't been a father to him…at least, not like I was to you, all those years ago." Sesshomaru took a long breath, opening his mouth to speak, only to have his voice cut across.

"My lords! My lords!" The two demons turned in response to the voice, a warrior of theirs stopping before them, gasping for breath. "My lords! Come quick! It's Lord Inuyasha!"

***

Inuyasha was frozen. He hadn't spoken, nor moved, nor scarcely drew breath. It'd be safe to say, he was stunned to say the least. "So I…she…we…" Izayoi smiled, taking her sons hands in hers and rubbing them gently.

"_Yes_, Inuyasha. I'm sure, there's no doubt about it. It's only been a day but…you'll see, within two your father and Sesshomaru will be able to smell the change, and then I suspect it won't be much longer until you can as well." Inuyasha swallowed hard.

"Y-Yeah...I guess…" His mother's brow creased into a small frown.

"Inuyasha, are you not happy?" The half-demon shook, as if startling from a dream, looking at her in disbelief.

"No. No, it's not that I – I _am_, really I just…I'm not sure about… Does Kagome know?" Izayoi's eyes glanced over to the girl who was lying nearby, shaking her head slowly.

"I was going to. That's why I asked her to come with me but then the revolutionaries-" Inuyasha's ears flicked up as his mother suddenly stopped.

"Mother, what's-"

"-Can't you hear that noise?" Silver ears pricked, straining to hear whatever she was talking about. And they did, he heard it. It was distant, and yet still it was too close by to comfort.

"Oh, gods…" Izayoi gasped with eyes wide as Inuyasha shot to his feet, shaking Kagome gently by her shoulders.

"Kagome, Kagome, quick wake up!" he whispered desperately. Her eyelashes fluttered, eyes opening, looking at him in sleepy confusion.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, we gotta go. Come on, on your feet," Inuyasha ushered her to her feet, pulling his kimono back on as he did so.

"Inuyasha?" The half-demon turned, facing his mother in the dimness. "What is it?" He shook his head. He didn't want to answer that, right now they just needed to get to his father – and fast! His hands found Kagome's arms in the dark, steadying her still very swaying body as he led her and Izayoi back the way they'd got in. _If Katsura is with them, he'll lead them straight to this place! Father and Sesshomaru should've let me kill him when I had the chance…_

Kagome winced, pulling herself aside slightly, leaning against the rocky wall, waiting for Inuyasha to open up the entrance back into the nursery. "Kagome," he growled softly, "stand aside a little." She frowned, only understanding when Izayoi tugged her arm gently, moving her away from the wall just in time for the stone to slide away, revealing a long narrow passageway – this wasn't the way they'd come in.

"This is…its leading somewhere else?" Inuyasha nodded, a movement she could only just make out in the dimness. The shallow sound of Izayoi's breath extinguishing the flames of the candles was heard, as the half-demon took hold of Kagome's arm once more, progressing swiftly into the foreboding darkness ahead, his mother close behind as the entrance closed behind the three of them.

It was a maze, a labyrinth of tunnels and passageways that, in the dark must've been indecipherable, the girl thought as she felt the dizzying twist and turns of the corners they rounded. But Inuyasha knew the way. He remembered. From the feel of the smooth stone beneath his feet to the strangely comforting smell of damp, he remembered everything. He knew where this tunnel lead, and he knew which ways to turn without becoming totally lost, few knew the way, and even if they did, he doubted they'd remember. Upon smelling the rising panic in Kagome's scent he squeezed her arm reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I used to hide here as a kid all the time. It's meant for secret escape of me and mother out of the castle if we're attacked – we've never had to go further than the _hideaway_ we were just in, but…" she sensed the smile in his voice, which was suddenly so laden with reminiscence. "When I was little I used to hide from my parents here, to avoid being scolded or…even just sulking when I couldn't force Sesshomaru to play with me. Katsura knows that hidden room was back there, but he doesn't know about this…" _At least...I __**hope**__ he doesn't…_

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound echoed around them, making them all leap out of their skin. Kagome fell back against the wall in the disorientating dark, barely able to see Inuyasha's head swivel in all directions, trying to pick up the direction the sound originated from. Deafening reverberations of smashing objects and enraged screaming and cursing; they'd found the room empty, and by the sound of it, they were coming – and fast!

"SHIT!"

"Inuyasha!" Inuyasha spun round to face his mother as her voice echoed round the walls. "They're coming! Run!" Kagome flinched as Inuyasha suddenly bent down, his back to her, and she blinked at him in confusion.

"Come on, on my back, we gotta go!" The girl nodded resolutely, wrapping her arms round his neck tightly, her legs hugging his back as he stood up, darting down the passage, ears perked to make sure his mother didn't fall too far behind. "Mother? You okay back there?" Kagome flinched as Inuyasha's almost whisper ricocheted off the walls, not helping her racing heart.

"I'm fine! Right behind you, keep-" Her voice cut off with the piercing snarl that filled the tunnel.

"Dogs…" Inuyasha muttered, barely audible over the approaching noise. "Shit…They must have Katsura with them! The dogs are the only ones he'll listen to!" He called back to his mother. "They don't know the way but they can find us and tear us to shreds!"

"Go, Inuyasha!"

"Go in front so I can make sure you're-"

"-I can't, you're the only one who knows the way out. Just keep going! Sesshomaru will meet us the other side." Inuyasha nodded, not that his mother could see.

"It's all my fault," Kagome muttered, her face hugging into the back of Inuyasha's neck, tightening around his throat unconsciously, her words only reaching his ears.

"Don't berate yourself like that, it's not your fault they came after you. If anything, it's mine…" Her head jolted up.

"Inuyasha, no-"

"-If I weren't born my father never would've done all this _equality_ shit, the revolutionaries wouldn't have rebelled and your village would never have been destroyed – it's _my_ fault, but you don't see _me_ crying over it, so shut up and let me take care of you, okay?" The girl almost flinched at his harsh voice, but she didn't, not when she understood the implications of the words. "And don't squeeze so hard, I'm not gonna drop ya." She blushed, loosening her grip slightly.

Casting a quick glance back to check his mother was still behind them, Inuyasha took a light sniff. Fresh air – They were reaching the exit. "SESSHOMARU!!!" Kagome and Izayoi flinched at Inuyasha bellowing voice that now filled the air. "SESSHOMARU, YOU DICKHEAD HOW'S ABOUT SOME HELP HERE?!"

Suddenly, Inuyasha ducked down quickly, and Kagome squealed in shock at the sudden movement. "Mind your head, Mother!" The practically blinding light of the sun struck her eyes as Inuyasha darted through the low-levelled turn. They were outside? Turning so quick it made Kagome's world spin, Inuyasha watched his mother stumble out of the exit behind him, the intricate stonework sliding back into place behind her, not leaving as much as a seam to show it up for what it was.

"Are you three alright?" They looked towards the voice, meeting none-other than Sesshomaru's complacent gaze – his voice betraying his secret worry. The half-demon nodded, gasping for breath. "I heard your dulcet tones, Little brother, thought you might need my assistance." Inuyasha smirked at his brother.

"Feh, whatever, took ya long enough. Where's-"

"-Sesshomaru! Have you found them?" All four sets of eyes swivelled to the person who practically shot out of the concealment of the trees that surrounded the clearing they all now stood in. Inu-no-Taishou stopped on sight of his family standing together, some of them looking a little worse-for-wear.

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha practically leapt back in shock as the demon lord flew past them, pulling his mate into a tight embrace, both his sons looking away awkwardly. "I apologise for earlier – you were right, of course you were right, I-"

"-Not now," she said softly, taking his clawed hands gently in hers and breaking their embrace slowly. "The Revolutionaries are in the tunnels, if you go now you'll be able to catch them." He nodded, "But be careful, Katsura is there, he's got some control of the dogs, and it's-"

"-It's fine, Izayoi, I'll take a small legion, Inuyasha will come with me, he knows the tunnels better than anyone." This is where everyone met Inu-no-Taishou's eyes once more.

"Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked. "But Inuyasha is one of their main-"

"-Yes, Inuyasha, he's the only one who can get in and out quickly without getting lost." He met his mate's eyes as he sensed her argument approaching. "He is coming."

Kagome's fingers clutched the back of Inuyasha's kimono momentarily – she didn't _want_ him to leave her, not for a minute, for some reason, she felt so shaky, and vulnerable, she felt like she _needed_ him to be as close as possible. Inuyasha dropped her onto her feet gently, turning to face her.

"I have to go," he muttered, taking her hands in his as if in an attempt to reassure her, "I'll be back a quickly as possible, and Sesshomaru and my mother will look after you, okay?" She was tempted to argue, to tell him to stay, but as she felt the weight of his eyes fighting to capture her gaze, she remained silent, nodding half-heartedly. "Good girl," he growled teasingly, planting a swift, embarrassed kiss atop her head, following his father into the trees.

"Kagome?" Said girl startled from her hazy daydream as Izayoi touched her shoulder gently. "We have to go to the safe-house. Sesshomaru has to protect the people there as well." Sesshomaru sniffed lightly, catching the two females' attention.

"Indeed, and there are some rogue Revolutionaries wandering nearby, so we had best get moving." He paused, meeting Kagome's anxious eyes. "It wouldn't be prudent to allow ourselves to be attacked out here in the open, especially in your condition." Her thin brows narrowed n confusion. _What is he talking about?_

"Come again? What are you-"

"-Your _condition_, Lady Kagome," Sesshomaru repeated, motioning an arm for them to walk on. Izayoi took a deep breath, gently manoeuvring Kagome forward alongside her, Sesshomaru following.

"Kagome, I'll tell you, but…you have to keep…_calm_ about it, and not…panic, understand?"

***

Inuyasha licked his lips unconsciously as he heard the practically silent breathing of his father and the warriors sticking close by. Inu-no-Taishou handed a flaming torch to a few of the followers as the entrance to the tunnels stood open before them. "Go in fours, keep track of each other, take one of the four tunnels each, bring prisoners alive, understand?" Inu-no-Taishou commanded, the demons nodded. "You know the call if you require back up, and the scent to follow to lead you back. Any questions?" Silence ensued. And Inuyasha watched the demons closely. He'd never been allowed to take part in or even _witness_ something like this before, taught to fight (his father and Sesshomaru had seen to that) but always hidden or ushered away from danger. His heart thumped in his chest of apprehension – excitement. To him, this was some twisted sort of privilege. "Right, I go with Inuyasha. Go." Within seconds of the words the four separate groups and their accompanying torches disappeared down each tunnel, leaving the centre one for Inuyasha and his father to explore. "This is the one that leads straight outside, correct? Inuyasha nodded, eager to be of any kind of use, ignoring the fact that Inu-no-Taishou had elected to stay with him undoubtedly to make sure he didn't get hurt. "Good, if any went the correct way we'll flush them straight out." He motioned for Inuyasha to go ahead, following suite as the half-demon moved forwards.

The demon lord's golden gaze flickered over his son continuously, taking several deep breaths prior to opening his mouth to speak, only to have it shut again uselessly silent.

"Dad?" Inu-no-Taishou's eyes darted to his son once more, awaiting his speech patiently.

"Yes?"

"Do you…do you really think I'm…worth all this? I mean I…I'm the cause of all this trouble…it would have been better…if I'd never been-"

"-That's not true." The half-demon stopped, turning to face his father. "You're my son, you must...Inuyasha…understand I…" he bit his lower lip, striving to find the right words. Inu-no-Taishou never was known for displaying his emotions openly, he always found himself coming up short, or finding it too awkward. "You and Sesshomaru are both my sons and – I care for you both the same but…you…you're my little boy, and I…I've been able to treasure and protect you in ways Sesshomaru and I never got to…" he growled with impatience at his lack for words, nails biting into his palm in aggravation. "There is _no_ way _anything_ would be better if you weren't here, so – so don't blame this on yourself. _I'm_ the one that's at fault here…" Inuyasha frowned.

"_You_? Why? What've you done?"

"I've taken care of you, the way any decent father should but I have…taken a back seat when it comes to actually _caring_ for you."

"Dad, that's not-"

"-No I…When you were a baby your mother was the one that always held you, that fed you, fussed over you, even when you were little Sesshomaru was the one to entertain you with your games and play with you. I loved you all the same but I never…I was so wrapped up in trying to make a better world for you that I didn't even take the time to _be_ in your world…So I…I am sorry…All this time I have been practically absent from your life and it hasn't even _done_ anything. It's all for nothing! I've wasted 200 plus years for _nothing_!"

Inuyasha blinked back the troublesome salty tears that caused his eyes to glass over, sniffing slightly, breaking the sudden silence. Inu-no-Taishou's own eyes widened in surprise as his son virtually leapt at him wrapping his arms round him in an awkward hug.

"I've never resented it! I promise! I never have! You've always taken care of me – I've never wanted for _anything_! Sure sometimes I wanted some more of your time but that never stopped me from knowing why you weren't always there. I appreciate it, really. It might not seem like it's getting anywhere but I…I can't stand you giving up. You've always been this pinnacle of hope…whenever I face something I realise how strong you've been to be fighting for a seemingly hopeless world…if you give up now, what am I supposed to do?" Inu-no-Taishou smiled slightly, ruffling Inuyasha's hair affectionately.

"You haven't hugged me since you were a little boy," he said absently, and Inuyasha blushed slightly, pulling back.

"So is this my cynical little Inuyasha telling me to have hope?" Inuyasha smirked at his father's words.

"Feh, well I guess I get the stubbornness from you." Inu-no-Taishou mimicked his grin, continuing on in the dimness beside Inuyasha, holding the torch ahead of them.

"No, I think you get that from your mother…" The half-demon rolled his eyes.

"Whatever…in either case, I suppose I understand more than ever where this need to fight for something better comes from…I don't want my kid growing up in this world as it is."

"No, I suppose not," the demon lord said absently. But suddenly, he stopped. "_'Kid'_? I'm sorry?" Inuyasha gave his father a broad grin.

"Oh, yeah, that's right; I suppose you don't know do you – _Grandfather_." Just as Inu-no-Taishou was about to question him further, his golden eyes widened so much Inuyasha feared they might shoot straight out his head, the tunnel around them hummed with a dull, indecipherable echo. "What was-" Inu-no-Taishou raised a hand to his own lips, and Inuyasha silenced at the signal.

"That dull murmur…" The half-demon looked to his father inquisitively. "You say that Katsura had the dogs with him?" Inuyasha nodded.

"Why?"

"Can't you smell it?" Inuyasha shook his head, his _half_-demon abilities paling in comparison to his father's. "They're coming…"

TBC

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A/N: KK, not lots of IYxKag like I promised, I'll try for the next chappie though. Phew! WICKED hard to write this chapter, I actually got distracted from it three times. Anyways, it's done now, hope you liked it. SUPER sorry for the cliffie, I wasn't actually intending to here, it originally ended with Inuyasha telling Inu-no-Taishou about Kagome's _condition_, but that seemed too cheesy and wierd there to me, so I wrote a little more, but then I honestly was _way_ too tired to write anymore, so that's why it ended here. Please review!

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	10. 10 Saving Grace

Author's Note:

Heya, guess what? My internet is up and running! *Dances* Hopefully it wont bugger up anymore *crosses fingers* I dont want anymore of them pesky 'internet withdrawal symptoms' lol. Neways, it seems people are liking the 'brotherly love' part of this fic, so there's a nice little slice of that in here ^_^ And also Kagome finds out her _condition_, lol. The first bit came out really fluently, but the second bit was wicked hard to get involved in as such, after a while I started flowing again though so I guess it's okay XD Hope you like the chapter, I would like to see lots of nice reviews ^_^

Enjoy and review wonderful readers!

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Saving Grace

Ten

_Sesshomaru wet his lips with apprehension taking a silent, light inhale of the evening's unusually chilly air. The snow still lay heavily on the grounds beyond the mortal palace, and their poor craftsmanship of what they called a 'castle' clearly wasn't built with warmth in mind, wasn't his father afraid that mortal wench and her whelp would die of the sheer cold? The young demon knew how inappropriate it would be for the woman and the half-demon to come to their home – his father's castle – but surely he could have found a more suitable place for them, rather than this _hovel_ of a palace which Sesshomaru believed belonged to the wench's father. Not that he cared what happened to them…he hadn't seen them since that night all those weeks ago, when his father had requested his aid in stopping that human who sought the Wench's hand – what was his name? Ah, yes, 'Lord Takemaru of Setsuna'. Once the initial outrage at his father asking such a thing of him – for that whore and the (at the time) unborn mongrel no less – had passed, Sesshomaru had grasped the overwhelming instinct to not displease his father, who was the only thing he had left. His father was the alpha, the one who'd raised him to be the demon he was all by himself, his father, the one who'd sired him. He may have asked it as a request not an order, but there had still been no room to refuse _

_And here he was again, in this 'castle' that reeked heavily of humans. _Filthy scent,_ he sneered, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He hated humans – hated Izayoi __**and**__ that half-breed pup, his mere youthful curiosity had brought the adolescent demon to this place, to this _room. _That atrociously familiar scent of that wench dusted the area. He'd found the right room. The darkness of the room greeted him as he slinked through the doorway. Directly across from the door, Izayoi lay silently, dark lashes closed against the world, lost in slumber. The rich odour of his father hung heavy in the air, he'd been here recently. _He's always here_, Sesshomaru reminded himself, _probably to see his half-demon whelp…

_Deft footsteps made their way over the bassinet that lay not far from the door, something wriggling quietly within. Dark brows raised slightly in apprehension, not sure whether to sneer or to smile as he stopped beside it, the eerie moonlight swimming in through the shutters and lighting the half-demon child's face with an almost ethereal glow. Leaning over slightly for a better glimpse, the baby seemed to notice him, golden orbs lice saucers watching him with an awestruck gaze. Maybe the pup recognised him for what he was? Perhaps, but what the baby deemed more important obviously was getting a closer look at this new face, chubby arms widening as if beckoning an embrace. Sesshomaru had taken a step back at that. The brat wanted to be picked up? He hadn't bargained on that, he hadn't even imagined the pup would be up at this hour, he'd just been curious to what he looked like. The young demon stepped forward to soak in the pup's appearance. He'd heard rumours that half-demons were ugly, disfigured, unlike the human or the demon parent, but when his father had seen him for the first time, Sesshomaru was quite sure his father's exact words were _'beautiful'_. Of course Sesshomaru had declined the offer of holding or even _seeing_ his new baby brother, (it wouldn't do to seem _interested _in the little mongrel) though he'd been curious to say the least, and his curiosity had finally won over…but that didn't mean anyone _else_ would know that, hence his flying midnight visit. _

_The pup, however odd looking he was, was _certainly_ not ugly or disfigured. A full head of silver hair and oddly pale flesh, and those eyes, the rich gold seemed so aware, watching him closely. But then Sesshomaru's head quirked a little, something wasn't quite right about the boy, something he couldn't put his finger on. There were no markings adorning any part of the boy's body, he could see that, owing to the cloth-napkin he'd managed to wriggle out of, but that wasn't it, there was something…_ Dog ears, _the demon realised, arm unconsciously reaching down to sweep the silver bangs from the boy's face, noting where his _demon_ ears _should've_ been, and reaching back up to check the silvery puppy ears that adorned the boy's head, as if to reassure himself that they were indeed real – And they were – His clawed fingers touched the appendages unsurely, the boy letting out a little giggle, the ears in question wiggling out of his control. Sesshomaru snatched his hand back, as if bitten, obviously shocking the baby out of his giggles, a worryingly upset look crossing the boy's features. Little clawless fingers pawed at his eyes, a quiet little whine sounding in the back of the infant's throat. Eye's widening in surprise, Sesshomaru felt his insides jump a little in panic. What was he supposed to do? The thing was crying – the cries steadily growing louder – that human wench would surely wake up._

_Sesshomaru's usually unmoved heart pounding in his chest, in a moment of blind panic, the full demon reached into the basinet, flinching away suddenly, remembering his claws. Reattempting the movement, Sesshomaru skittishly seized the infant underneath his arms (mindful of his claws) lifting him from the cradle. Its little legs kicked out in upset-confusion, small hands balling into fists as his whimpers began to grow into wails. Biting his lip stubbornly, the demon tried to recall something – _anything – _that might help him silence it (_besides_ killing the thing, he could guarantee it'd break his beloved father's heart – besides which, the demon lord would surely kill _him_ for it in return…)_

_Realising he probably wasn't holding the pup in the most comfortable of positions, its head lolling to the side awkwardly without any support, he resentfully pulled the wriggling mess to his chest (careful to avoid his armour) cradling the little silver head with his hand. Almost immediately the sobs ceased, the ringing silence brushing into his ears. Those glistening eyes gazed up at him in wonder, small hands wriggling to try and get a grip on him. Sesshomaru's lips quirked in a small smirk, inclining his head slightly so that the pup could entangle his tiny fingers in the tresses of silver hair, a little chuckle rousing from his baby brother. "What a strange creature you are, _Little brother…"_ the demon practically purred, fingers stealing up to curiously stroke the madly twitching puppy ears, inwardly revelling at the unfamiliar sound of childish laughter. Noting the shudder in the little naked body on the cold night, Sesshomaru reached into the cradle, retrieving one of the many blankets within and wrapping him in it. He wasn't quite aware what had stirred this sudden act of kindness in him, he didn't fully understand it, all he knew was that this little thing wasn't quite as repulsive, or disgusting as he'd once thought…_

_Brushing the corner of the swaddling cloth almost _tenderly_ across the half-demon's cheek, Sesshomaru watched the mirthful face thoughtfully. "And what ridiculous name did the Wench dub you with, _Little brother?" _The demon asked absently, mentally sneering at the thought of any embarrassing human names she'd undoubtedly given the boy._

"_I didn't name him." Sesshomaru's head snapped up at the calm, endearing voice, seeing Izayoi, sitting fully awake on her bed, watching the two with calm, motherly eyes. "Your father named him." Sesshomaru raised a brow._

"_How long have you been watching me?" he asked quietly, the woman continued to smile at him, as if _he_ were her son. _

"_Since you approached the basinet…" Sesshomaru forced a sneer, golden eyes darting back to his new little brother. _Perhaps I do not hate him as thoroughly as I first thought…though hate him I still do, _the demon thought, meeting the eyes of his father's woman once more._

"_I would hear this name father has given him." Izayoi got to her feet slowly, wrapping her night yukata tighter round her chest to conceal her modesty (and Sesshomaru's embarrassment) having forgotten to retie it after feeding the baby some time in the night. _

"_Inuyasha," she said softly, stopping beside Sesshomaru, apparently not in the least bit concerned that the demon who had once said he'd kill her and her son if given the chance, was now holding her very vulnerable baby – _who_ by the way, was struggling to admire the crescent moon on this new person's forehead. _

"_Indeed, trust Father to give the whelp such a ridiculous name…" Setting her hand kindly on Sesshomaru's potentially dangerous arm, Izayoi sighed softly._

"_So, how do you like your brother, Lord Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru inwardly snorted at that. Just because he didn't hate it didn't mean he _liked _it. _

_The demon handed the pup back to its mother, stalking towards the door. "I don't care for it, I was just curious is all." As he disappeared into the dark halls, closing the door behind him, Izayoi bounced her son gently in her arms, the infant growling impatiently, wondering where the interesting new person had gone to._

"_It's alright little one," his mother cooed softly, "he'll be back…" She knew he would after all, she'd seen that look cross his eyes, Inuyasha had captured his _interest_, he'd be back, of that she was sure. Little did she know that as she departed her chambers the following morning, a _shadow_ lingered just beyond her sight, a constant observer's gaze weighing heavily on the little boy who was never out of her sight. Looking back on the time he'd first held his brother, Sesshomaru realised, that little boy had unintentionally thawed the ice of his frozen heart, he'd been his saving grace..._

***

Slowly, Kagome opened her heavy eyes. She couldn't even remember falling asleep, but by the looks Sesshomaru and Izayoi were throwing her, something was wrong. She shot up, making the two jump slightly. "I'm pregnant?! I'm pregnant?!" Izayoi offered her a kind smile.

"Yes Dear, you are – _please_ don't faint again," she added, seeing Kagome still looked nauseous.

"I-I fainted?" Sesshomaru nodded. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry I just…I was shocked is all, amidst all this I was…I'm really pregnant?" Sesshomaru rolled his eyes.

"Yes, would you like me to scent you again just to be sure?" Kagome swallowed, shaking her head a little too quickly, making her world spin slightly.

"No, it's okay, I believe you I'm just…shocked." _You've said that already, _her mind told her, but she brought that down to nerves. How would Inuyasha react? Would he be happy? Would he be angry at her? She didn't know about how these things worked in demon society but in _human _society, good girls didn't get pregnant before they were married – and hadn't Inuyasha only said earlier that they weren't officially _mated_ yet – 'mated' being the demon equivalent for marriage. Would Inuyasha – or his_ family_ for that matter, be mad at her for getting pregnant? She knew Inuyasha had some hand in it too (obviously) but it was her body the baby was growing in. _What will I do if they don't want me to have it? If _Inuyasha _doesn't want me to have it? _Her world was still spinning, and she felt like she needed to vomit again, not to mention this overwhelming _panicked_ feeling was slowly rising up in her, creating a strange sense of claustrophobia – for some reason she needed Inuyasha.

"Where are we?" Kagome asked, gazing round with her slightly hazy vision, the _arena_-like hall surrounded by solid stone, hundreds of people gathered nearby, realising she, Izayoi and Sesshomaru were standing fairly close to the exit, the smell of damp attacking her senses, increasing her need to empty her stomach of its contents – or lack thereof.

"The _Safe-house­,_ Kagome, we've been here for a while now…the sun went down after you passed out, the moon has been up for some time." Kagome swallowed hard. That meant Inuyasha still hadn't come back – and why couldn't they go back inside? That panic was really making itself known now, she felt like she was going to scream for no reason. She needed Inuyasha.

"I feel weird I – I am gonna – I need Inuyasha." Sesshomaru dropped slowly to his knees beside her.

"Father and Inuyasha have already sent word, Lady Kagome, they're alright. Inuyasha is quite wounded however, so when you see him, do not upset yourself, the wounds are not fatal." But apparently no matter what he said, she _was_ panicking! He'd already been back here? Then why had he gone again? Why hadn't he stayed with her? Did he know she was pregnant and leave?

"But he – why didn't he stay with me? Wasn't he worried that I was-"

"-Kagome," Izayoi soothed, rubbing her back in knowing circular motions, decreasing the feeling of sickness slightly. _Well she has been pregnant before_, her mind supplied, _she knows what she's doing I suppose..._ "_Inuyasha_ didn't come back," the woman said gently, "Inu-no-Taishou and he sent word they were okay, just wounded, and that they were just initiating a final sweep of the castle to ensure no Revolutionaries are left, before we can all go back in." Kagome nodded, the words soothing her paranoid mind if nothing else. She still needed Inuyasha, she still needed to vomit, and she _needed_ to calm down.

"Lord Sesshomaru." The demon lord got to his feet, meeting the eyes of one of the soldiers that had been on guard outside. "Demons approaching from the eastside."

"Identified as?"

"They could not be identified Sire-"

"-My Lord." Sesshomaru's gaze shifted to the second approaching demon, panting hard. This demon had been posted a little farther away, his heavy panting signifying that he'd run the distance. "My Lord, Lord Inu-no-Taishou and Lord Inuyasha approach from the east side, they are with two others, Sire." Sesshomaru nodded in understanding. Two others, which meant the other demons that had accompanied them had taken any prisoners back to the castle – _no doubt making sure nothing else gets in_, his mind supplied, as he watched the demons that were posted on guard dart back towards the castle in the distance, as the approaching demon lord and the others came closer – Inu-no-Taishou evidently having ordered them to return.

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha is back?" Kagome asked quickly, not feeling quite herself. She felt so weak and vulnerable all of a sudden – but that wasn't her! She was a priestess to a demon's village, not some weak little princess that needed to be looked after, that _needed_ anything! Why did she feel so different? What was happening to her to make her feel so lost?

"Kagome!" The girl gasped as she felt the wind knocked out of her, welcoming arms encasing her in a tight embrace. "Gods…I had this feeling…when I was in the tunnels…I felt like…I _felt_ you feeling…bad…" Kagome nodded, wetting her suddenly dry lips.

"I passed out…" Inuyasha froze in their embrace, and it shocked her to the core. Why had he stopped like that?

"Why?" his voice was quiet, calm, and yet it made her heart hammer – it scared her. How was she supposed to answer? What was she to say? If she told him would he be mad? After all…she was having his child out of wedlock – _mate_-lock, same difference. He was bound to be angry…who wouldn't be?

"I…I…"

"Kagome?" he pulled back, still embracing her, just enough to look upon her unusually pale face. "Kagome, what's wrong?"

"I…Promise…you won't be angry with me?" Inuyasha frowned. What had her so upset? "Inuyasha…" she said lowly, pressing her forehead into his chest. She leapt back, hearing his gasp of pain. "Oh my gods, Inuyasha," she gasped. A deep gash adorned the majority of the side of his face, a bloody engraving disturbing the pale honey-hued flesh, four long, _deep_ rips into his torso staining his kimono with blood.

"Keh, its worse than it looks, don't fret over it woman. I can take more than this, even if I am only _half_ demon."

Inu-no-Taishou's voice echoed through the hall, issuing comforting words and orders, the people occupying it gathering themselves up, streaming through the great archway that was the _only_ exit, Inuyasha manoeuvring Kagome out of the way, unconsciously following his elder brother's lead, as he walked after him, Kagome by his side. The goings-on mere background noise to the two as they made slow progress back up the castle alongside the others, Inuyasha realised just how long she'd now been silent for, and began to worry at the over-anxiousness present in her face. It was only then he'd realised…he'd never seen her overly happy, or jittery with excitement, their very strong emotions had rushed in, knocking their feet out from under them, they _hadn't_ had much time together like normal couples would, did she regret that? More to comfort himself than her, his hand reached out swiftly, taking hers in his, squeezing it reassuringly.

"You were talking earlier," he said under his breath, and she looked at him. "You asked me not to be angry with you? Kagome…you seem really…what's wrong?"

"I…Inuyasha…I'm…I'm pregnant…" Inuyasha's ears twitched. So his mother told her…and she didn't tell her he already knew? _Well she did pass out_, his mind supplied, _perhaps before mother had the chance to add that part._

"And that…that's what you were upset about?" She was upset over that? _Of course she was, who wouldn't be upset to carry the spawn of a half-demon…_ Kagome's eyes widened.

"No, I…I…you're not angry?" It was Inuyasha's turn to be shocked this time.

"Angry? Woman are you insane?" Kagome yelped as Inuyasha wrapped an arm tight round her waist, making her blush as his parents passed them by. "I love you, why would I be angry at having my baby inside you?" Kagome flushed again at that. He smirked at the crimson tint to her pale complexion, kissing her gently on her hand (preserving _some_ of her modesty). "You stupid wench, if you ever get the stupid notion that I feel _anything_ less than adoration for you…" Kagome smiled warmly up at him, her initial wooziness and all of her anxiety melting away gradually in his slight embrace.

"You called me stupid twice in once sentence," she joked.

"That's because you _are_ stupid…" She raised a playful eyebrow.

"And you, the one with four gashes in his chest, isn't?" Inuyasha squeezed her tighter, growling quietly under his breath, making her giggle.

"I suppose…maybe we're both a little stupid…" he agreed.

"I'm inclined to agree with you, Little brother," Sesshomaru said in his usual monotone, "allowing your expectant woman to linger in the cold," his brother shook his head in a mock scolding, "that shall not do, after all, she is only human." Inuyasha's mouth tilted into a smirk.

"Feh."

"An ample retort, Little brother, as usual."

"Go fall in some mud – _Sess_," Sesshomaru's lip twitched at the nickname.

"Indeed, should I use this opportunity to discuss with _Kagome_, the times when my baby brother _played_ in the mud he proposes I fall in – _naked_." Inuyasha's eyes widened in horror.

"You wouldn't?"

"At that time you could barely say my name, what was it my little fangless brother called me?"

"Sesshomaru-"

"_-Sessomawu,"_ he mouthed, not willing to sacrifice his dignity by saying it aloud.

"I WAS FIFTY YEARS OLD!"

"And naked…or have I already stated that part?" Sesshomaru said dully.

"HOW'S ABOUT I HIT YOUR NAKED _HEAD_ WITH MY _BARE_ PALM? JACKASS?!" Kagome gnawed her lower lip, trying not to laugh at Inuyasha rising to Sesshomaru's taunting.

"Miss Kagome?" Kagome turned, feeling very small as she found herself face-to-face with Lord Inu-no-Taishou, or more, Lord Inu-no-Taishou's chest. "Allow myself and Izayoi to escort you back to the castle," he offered kindly, offering his arm to steady her. Izayoi nodded gently from her place beside her mate, and Kagome swallowed nervously. Izayoi was one thing, but the demon lord himself? "We will walk you back, and you will discuss with us a little the future of my grandchild." Even _with_ the teasing kindness in his gruff voice, Kagome couldn't help but feel daunted by those words, and exactly _who_ the grandfather of her son or daughter was.

***

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, running her fingers along the length of the luxurious material.

"Yeah?" she sighed, hearing his distant response from the washroom connected to _their _bedroom.

"I…I don't think I can wear this…" She watched in the mirror's reflection as Inuyasha's head shot round the door.

"What? Why?"

"They're…they're _way_ too delicate – not to mention expensive. I wouldn't feel right wearing it." The half-demon approached her from the doorway, glancing from her to the pink silk kimono she was holding.

"Expensive? Like that matters, who cares?"

"_I_ do… It feels like…I'm being bought or something…" Inuyasha scowled at her.

"What? It's just a pretty piece of cloth! You only have to wear it for this one dinner so what's the problem?"

"The problem is I don't feel _right_ in it. I'm a priestess not a princess." Inuyasha scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Was this all those weird female hormones his mother warned him about? He could sense her anxiety when they were apart from each other – a symptom of her _condition_ he'd always been aware of. Thanks to the baby inside her, a part of her felt like she needed to be protected by her mate, hence her odd, uncharacteristically anxious behaviour earlier. Not sure what _other_ symptoms she may develop before this baby was born, all Inuyasha could _safely_ say, was that he disliked these ones – and the vomiting – he disliked that as well, even though he hadn't realised when it had first happened that _that_ was the reason for it.

"Listen…" he growled out, trying not to get angry at her, it wasn't her fault after all, "my mother doesn't have the luxury of having a pretty little girl to dress up, she _wants_ to see you wearing these things, it's not a case of _buying_ you." Kagome's fingers tightened slightly on the clothing in her hands.

"I'm not really used to such…pretty things, not really…" Inuyasha smirked at that, reaching round her slim form to hold the kimono up over her front.

"Well, you better get used to being showered with gifts, 'cause my family are crazy on it, _especially_ since our child will be the first born in our line in over two centuries." Kagome sighed, defeated; taking the kimono from his hands and shedding the one she was currently dressed in.

Standing back by the fireside, Inuyasha pulled on a white and red formal kimono, tying it closed with the sash, all the while his golden eyes trained on his slowly undressing mate. Hazel eyes flickering to the mirror, Kagome saw Inuyasha's reflection give away his staring, flushing darkly, reluctantly stripping herself of her clothes, the priestess pulled the fresh pink garments closed on her flesh, shutting out the half-demon's view.

"Hey," she said softly with an embarrassed smile, "a little privacy here?" His suddenly very lustful smirk broadened, moving slowly over to her, running clawed fingers over her _currently_ flat stomach.

"Yeah, I better stop looking, or I'll lose control…" he breathed into the shell of her ear, causing it to flush. "And we don't wanna be late to this dinner…" Kagome frowned.

"What's the occasion?" She watched him smile again in the mirror.

"Pretty much you. This is the first dinner you'll attend here, _ever_, since so far you've eaten here in my room. _Plus_, it's an announcement thing, like a – traditional acceptance banquet – my family members have to accept you, and then a demon priest has to bless our union so we can go forward with the ceremony." Kagome's eyes widened at that.

"C-Ceremony?" He laughed slightly.

"Yeah, don't look so afraid, it's not like a _blood-letting_ or something – it's our mating ceremony. Don't blush like that either; it's just – like your human wedding but done differently." She nodded in comprehension.

"When will it be?"

"Umm, well the mating ceremony usually occurs on the first full moon after the…_physical consummation_ of the relationship…" Her brow furrowed. She _had _been priestess to a demon slayer's village, but her knowledge of demon rituals were slim, and she knew even less about moon cycles, which she _did_ know dog-demons practically set their calendar by. At the perplexed look on her face he added, "And that's tonight. That's why my mother gave you _that_ kimono to wear – it's a traditional garment that is to be worn on _this_ night."

"But…this…this isn't the one _she_ wore? _That_ night was over two-hundred years ago, wasn't it?" Inuyasha shook his head.

"Of course it isn't hers, the tradition is that the male's – or _dominant_ _partner's_ parent makes it for the submissive partner. Get it?" Kagome gnawed her fingernail slightly.

"I get it, so your mother made it for the day when you'd mate, right?" Inuyasha nodded. "I think I've heard of that – it's done as a ritual when you reach maturity, right?" Again, he nodded. "So…when was that?" He gave her an uncharacteristic lecherous grin. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I'm _sure_ you didn't…in any case, that was around seventy years ago…"

"And this kimono survived that long?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes in amusement.

"It _was_ made with a spider-demon's silk; all silk outfits are commissioned from them in this family." He laughed slightly, Kagome only just remembering that both Inu-no-Taishou and Sesshomaru's outfits seemed to be solely from silk. Why not? She thought, it wasn't as if _money_ was a problem when the master of the house was Lord of the Western lands.

***

Kagome was grateful for the eternal life promised to her by mating with Inuyasha…she figured it'd take her that long to learn her way around this castle! When the time came to face the _dinner_, Kagome found her head spinning as if on a swivel to take in the luxurious surroundings. She let out a long, deep sigh as Inuyasha inclined his head curtly to the guards either side of the grand doors, as they opened them for the intended couple. Her heart leapt up into her throat as she saw the elongated table that stretched across the room, the seats filled with…_far_ too many people. Most of which she had no idea who they were.

"Lord Inuyasha and Lady Kagome," the guard announced as the half-demon and the priestess made their way across the room, Kagome's head lowered, trying her hardest not to trip, or to show herself – and Inuyasha – up in any way. Inuyasha frowned as she dropped her gaze, raising his own to make sure he caught the gaze of every single person in that room. They were to be left in _no_ doubt who they'd be screwing with if he saw so much as one malicious whisper go behind a hand, or one judgemental look…

"Raise your eyes…" Inuyasha growled out to her under his breath, so that only she could hear. "You got nothing to look away for…" Just as she raised her eyes to him, he stopped her subtly with his arm on her shoulder, pulling out the chair beside his mother for her to sit on. Receiving a warm smile from Izayoi, the girl swallowed hard, trying to drown some of her nerves, taking her seat, meeting Sesshomaru's eyes across the table. Whilst Inuyasha took the seat opposite her, Kagome felt her legs jitter nervously under the table, looking to her right, Izayoi taking that place, which was on Inu-no-Taishou's left, the lord himself with Sesshomaru at his right (meaning the stoic eldest son of the demon lord was opposite Izayoi) beside _him_ seated Inuyasha, who, noting his intended's angst, promptly nudged her foot under the table with his own. _'Okay?'_ he mouthed to her, receiving a nod, and a nervous smile. _Alright_, she thought resolutely, _I just have to get through this…shouldn't be too hard…_

"May I just say," she cringed at that smooth, _courteous_ voice, turning to face the speaker on her left, "how well that colour suits you, _Lady Kagome_." Kagome could _sense_ Inuyasha's sneer from across the table, but Izayoi interjected first.

"Kagome looks beautiful in _anything_, Lord Eisuke. Though she's not feeling herself this evening, perhaps she shouldn't talk too much." Eisuke threw the woman another of his feigned polite looks.

"Indeed, Lady Izayoi I must say that I-"

"-Lady Izayoi, Lady Kagome-" they looked up, meeting two women who busied themselves with setting steaming plates of food before the two of them. "Be careful My Ladies, they're very hot." Izayoi nodded her thanks, giving Kagome a reassuring look as the servants removed the lids from the trays.

Kagome had never been _poor_ as such, had never gone hungry or anything as extreme as that, but she had _never _seen so much food that had made her mouth water so – never seen any that had _clearly_ required such determined preparation. And yet all she could do was stare at it.

"Kagome? Is this food all to your liking?" The priestess nodded furiously at Inuyasha's mother.

"It's _wonderful_, but…why are we the only ones being served?" The woman patted her hand softly.

"Because the others don't eat human food, well, save for Inuyasha he does have some human in him after all." Sure enough, at her words, the half-demon was presented with his dishes, lips offering her a reassuring smirk.

She found her human appetite (which was larger than usual – probably due to the fact that it was _Inuyasha's_ baby inside her) was not in the least affected when the dishes for the _demons_ attending were brought out – raw meat. While it was true, the demon lords and ladies ate…_genteelly_, it was still bound to repulse any _normal_ human, but not her. She didn't know whether to be proud or disturbed by that notion.

"Izayoi?" Kagome asked quietly, when her plate had been cleared. "Why is that girl eating human food?" Izayoi looked up from her all but clear dinner plate, looking over to the girl in question, who was far down the opposite end of the table, nearly at the end.

"She's one of the higher up servants, one of the ones that are seated at this table. She's human as well."

"Oh…" Not realising there were other humans here besides her and Izayoi, she supposed she should have expected it. After all, Inu-no-Taishou was fighting for equality wasn't he? Why would _he_ be fussy about employing humans? _Besides, _she thought, _what safer place for a human in the western lands to live, under the honourable Lord's rule_? "Does she have a name?" Izayoi smiled, making Kagome think she should've worded the question less…_stupidly_.

"I believe it's Takaya…well, that was her family name, I'm not sure what her given name is. Why is it you ask?" Kagome shrugged softly, looking away from the slim, dark-haired girl as she caught the two ladies glancing over at her.

"She just seemed…so sad, and nobody was talking to her either…like she didn't _exist_…" Her worrying, however, was cut short, as Inu-no-Taishou got to his feet, tapping his glass with his claw loudly, making the sound ring through the hall. Silencing the guests, who mostly had _very_ sensitive hearing.

"I just have a few things to say this evening." His sons looked up to him, one of them with that usual complacence in his eyes, the other with slight apprehensiveness. "First of all, thank you, My Lord, and Ladies, for blessing us with your presence on this fine night. Secondly, I apologise – to everybody, about the breech in security earlier today. As you well know, it is a rare occurrence, but with the revolutionaries bearing some of my _once_ most trusted warriors…we failed to anticipate an attack… It will not happen again…" the demon lord's golden gaze flickered briefly to his mate, offering her an assuring smile.

"Thirdly, on a lighter note…I am happy to announce the mating of my youngest son, Lord Inuyasha, and his betrothed, Lady Kagome." Kagome's faced enflamed, lowering her eyes to the table in embarrassment. Seeing her gaze's descent, Inuyasha gave her foot another nudge under the table, causing her to look up and give him a nervous smile. "And I am also happy to announce the conception of my first grandchild." And that did it. She wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole! It wasn't that she was ashamed…she just…felt humiliated by being singled out like that! Why didn't he just come out and say: _My son and this girl had sex?_ That was practically what he'd just announced to the fifty odd guests at the table. Her face flushed darker, if that were possible, fingers tightening angrily into the chair, the actual emotion not present on her face.

Frowning as he felt his mate's humiliation and anger rise from within her, Inuyasha tilted his head slightly at her. Izayoi squeezed Kagome's shoulder gently.

"Kagome? Kagome are you alright?" Kagome shook her head, her body shaking – from anger. No one in the hall could tell _why_ she was acting so _strangely_…besides Inuyasha…

"No I – I think I need some air."

"Of course," Inu-no-Taishou said this time, motioning his head towards Inuyasha, giving them both permission to leave the table. Steadying her on her feet, the half-demon walked with her down the length of the hall, the weight of everyone's gazes upon them never wavering until the doors were shut tight behind them. The light, evening breeze rustled his silver hair, as he and Kagome turned into the gardens, manoeuvring over to the ornate water fountain they seemed to find themselves unconsciously returning to.

"You were upset…" he stated, watching her rest on the stonework surrounding the fountain. "I smelt you…and _felt_ you…you were angry…and-"

"-Humiliated," she added quietly.

"Why?" She turned so quickly it made him jump, her sweet face seething with anger.

"Why? _Why?_ Your father announces it like that – in front of dozens of people I don't even _know_ and you ask me _'why'_?!"

"K-Kagome, what're you-"

"-Excuse me for not wanting demon upper-class society to know we slept together!"

"Kagome," he said, still mentally wincing from her harsh anger that was tearing at him from the inside, his voice still calm. "He just announced our mating, and the baby, is that so wrong?" Her hazel eyes, flaming with fury widened, the woman leaping to her feet.

"Is that so wrong? Human girls don't go around announcing who they _slept_ with, Inuyasha! Don't you understand? _Humans_ don't do…_that_…what we did…out of wedlock, and we're not mated yet and…and besides that…" Inuyasha reached forward, slightly skittish, hands resting on her shoulders gently.

"It's just a tradition, a demon tradition, alright? The mating is announced on the banquet at the night of the ceremony. And when a pup is conceived, the family celebrate it, along with the neighbouring Lords and their families. There's nothing wrong with it." He said it all very matter-of-factly, which only added fuel to her fire.

"A _demon_ tradition, Inuyasha! Demons! I'm human remember? You – You knew this would happen tonight, didn't you?" Inuyasha nodded, his brow still creased with confusion. "Why couldn't you be a bit more sensitive to what I am?!"

"Kagome, stop it. You're overreact-"

"-Overreacting? _I'm_ overreacting? Maybe you should realise that there are two of us in this relationship, Inuyasha, and I should be consulted before the fact that I lost my virginity is broadcasted to the world!"

"What so you're ashamed of me?"

"No! I'm ashamed of myself, you idiot!" He flinched at that, taking a step back slightly, releasing his hold on her shoulders.

"Of…yourself?" She nodded, gasping for breath at so much shouting, angry tears streaking down her cheeks.

"T-Those…those demons in there…they _all_ know what happened in the dungeons…what Katsura made me…"

"Kagome?" he asked softly, reaching to touch her face, but she pulled away.

"Don't you see that this is just making it worse? I'm not…some _slut_…but they think I am…and they think I sold myself to you for your father's protection…I _know_ they do…and I can't stand the way they talk to me, the way they speak behind their hands as if I'm not there, the way they stare. I saw that girl _Takaya_ down the table – she looked like me! Lost, confused, _judged_, because she was a _human_. I'm not ashamed of you, or this baby…I'm ashamed that you both have to be laboured with a weak human like me as a-" She cut off, ardent lips crashing against hers in a determined kiss, leaving her breathless.

"I wouldn't trade you for a _thousand_ demonesses…I love you…I don't care what you say…after what you've faced, and survived – you're not weak at all… It's _scary_ how strong you are…"

She bit her lip, feeling his arms snake around her waist. "I've faced these whispers, these _judgements_ all my life…and all I wanted was for them to stop…but now all I want…is you…" He paused, stroking the rogue strands of ebony away from her face. "It won't be like this all the time, I promise…they'll always be narrow-minded bastards who overstep their mark…but we'll get through it, alright? Together?" She nodded quickly, leaning back in to brush her tear-stained cheek against his kimono. "Kagome…?"

"Hmm…"

"Tonight is our ceremony."

"I know."

"You don't have to…if you don't want to…I'll understand, I mean…its forever, so…" she pulled back to look upon his face, the half-demon anticipating heartbreak. "I'll still look after you and the baby; you don't need to mate me if you're not absolutely sure." She smiled, fingers winding the silver tresses that lay over his shoulders round softly.

"Eternity with you? What about that have I to refuse…?" she said, offering him a coquettish smile.

TBC

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A/N: Ta Da! Hope you liked. Leave me some nice comments Please ^_^

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	11. 11 The Eight Vows

Author's Note:

Ne, I was watching my Inuyasha DVDs in the background whilst writing this, and when episode 26 rolled by, I noticed this cute little scene I never noticed before, where Shippo is asleep while Miroku & Sango are explaining stuff about the Sacred Jewel. Kagome is patting Shippo on the head *awwwws at it* he's so cute ^_^ Neways, where was I? Oh yeah, glad ppl are still liking this, Not much time to chitter today though, sorry ^_^

**IMPORTANT: The Eight Vows is a ritual i comprised myself, as far as I know no such thing actually exists, if it does, I must be psychic XD But if you wish to use or develop it for your own use, please ask me first, K? ^_^**

Thankies for reviewing.

Enjoy!

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The Eight Vows

Eleven

Kagome worried her lower lip between her teeth, drawn from her silent anxiety as Izayoi placed her hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Worried?" Kagome shook her head, rousing a soft smile from the woman.

"It's alright…every woman is just a little worried…Inuyasha won't be upset if you are. He's probably a little nervous too." Kagome inhaled shakily. In truth, she _was_ nervous; she could feel the apprehension creeping up through her limbs, making them slightly numb, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She might need to be sick again…

How was she supposed to remember all these demon traditions? She didn't even know what to do, or what to say at this thing! Something about the _'Eight Vows'_, was all Inuyasha could tell her before Inu-no-Taishou and Sesshomaru had hurried him off in another direction. _Apparently_ Inuyasha had to _prepare_ for this too. Kagome shook her head at the strange (but somehow familiar) tradition she had understood, (and blushed at), the crimson red garter offered to her by Izayoi, it apparently having something to do with the _rituals_ which lie ahead of them that night. She sighed as Inu-no-Taishou peered round the door, resuming in swiftly relaying to her what was going to happen. But it shot right over her head. She had _no_ idea what was about to happen to her and Inuyasha. _I wonder what weird traditions we're going to have to suffer before the night is out…_

***

Inuyasha swallowed hard as he stood only in a white fundoshi under his brother's gaze. "Get it over with Sesshomaru," the half-demon growled impatiently.

"If you would stop fidgeting like a bothersome pup then I would get this done quicker, now hold still." Inuyasha winced as Sesshomaru dipped the brush doused in purple ink, flicking the brush across his brother's left cheek, making him wince at the tickling sensation. "Inuyasha-"

"-What it tickles!"

"Don't be so childish."

"Whatever, go get bent…" Sesshomaru arced a delicate brow.

"Indeed," he proceeded to paint a matching stripe across the other cheek, mimicking his full-demon form's demonic crests. "Are you sure Kagome is aware of what this ritual entails? She is human after all…our traditions are foreign to her, she may become overwhelmed if she's not thoroughly informed of what to expect." Inuyasha huffed, reluctantly holding his arm outward so Sesshomaru could finish the crest that began at his shoulder blade and curved round his arm to just above his elbow.

"Keh, I _know_ that, Dad's gone to tell her, and Mother is with her." His brother shot him a look that he didn't understand, manoeuvring to mirror the stripe on the opposite arm.

"If you were so worldly Inuyasha, then you wouldn't have needed your mother to inform you of your own woman's pregnancy." Inuyasha snorted at that, trying desperately not to giggle, or move too much as Sesshomaru painted the stripes which would have adorned his hips (were he full demon).

"Curse being a demon… I'm half-human too, can't Kagome and me just have a human wedding?" Sesshomaru made a point of jabbing him hard in the leg with the opposite end of the brush, standing back to his feet.

"The dominant instincts in you are demon, your male parent was demon, your female parent follows demon traditions, you were raised with and around demon traditions, you really think it prudent to suddenly exhibit human rituals?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes at his brother's condescending tone.

"Yeah I know, I know, I don't mind, it's just it's such a pain…" Sesshomaru smirked at that.

"I can assure you, human traditions are just as troublesome… Now come, it's time." Inuyasha looked over himself in the mirror, the marks looking odd on him.

"Geez, am I glad these come off afterwards, they look weird…" he frowned at recalling the following step to the mating ceremony. He was almost certain it would prove difficult; after all, it was _Kagome_ he was mating…

***

Inuyasha tapped his clawed fingers agitatedly against his leg, the hall alight with fiery torches, his father and mother at his side, along with his brother, the neighbouring demon lords and ladies gathered in two straight lines along each side of him, creating an odd sort of walkway from him to the door, a walkway for Kagome to walk down – when she appeared anyway. "Where _is_ she?" he growled under his breath, earning a slight smile from his proud father.

"Women are always late…have patience… Good things come to those who wait…" Inuyasha snorted, folding his arms impatiently across his chest. His heart skipping a beat in apprehension as the doors opened slowly.

Kagome was framed by the great doorway, ornate combs fixing her hair back deftly, her pale pink and white kimono clinging elegantly to her curves, making Inuyasha swallow hard. He'd seen human women at the traditional Japanese weddings for humans – they looked like freaky porcelain dolls, unnatural. _His_ Kagome had raw beauty that didn't _need _to be covered up. _Who'd want their women to wear all that shit on their face?_ He asked himself mentally, a foreign fluttering feeling rising in his stomach as she slowly drew forward, evidently trying not to trip on the bottom edge of her kimono that trailed slightly on the ground. Inuyasha never was one to admire pretty clothes as such, but he had to admit, his mother's work was flawless, it was beautiful. _Kagome_ was beautiful. He could have sworn his jaw dropped a little as she drew nearer, the celestial firelight reflecting in her nervous eyes, he could even sense her refraining from gnawing her lip, lest the dark lip-colouring adorning her lips mark her teeth.

As she stopped before him, he could tell she was confused, recognising something different about him, but not able to put her finger on it. _Crests_, her mind supplied, guessing it was part of the ritual. Inu-no-Taishou had said something about painting crests on his body since he had none of his own…

Kagome noted the large screen standing behind the demon that was situated at the head of the hall (reminding her of the priest at the human wedding) the ornate shoji screen reminding her only as what she could call _a dressing_ screen, though what it was doing there, beside the luxuriously dressed shrine, she was unsure. She'd been so nervous and sketchy about this whole thing that she hadn't heard a word Inu-no-Taishou had said – She had absolutely _no_ idea what was about to happen.

"Join hands," the cool ethereal voice of the aged demon said, and Kagome looked to Inuyasha, who promptly shifted her hand out straight before her, his own hovering over it, his palm to the back of her hand. The weight of the many sets of eyes within the hall bore into her back, distracting her from the _priest's_ words, tuning out slightly, until Inuyasha (sensing her distance) grazed her lightly with a claw on her finger, bringing her back to reality. "…may their ancestors and the gods sanctify this union. May they bless them with good health, fertility, and happiness, for the following days of eternity, keeping them safe from any harm, and allow them to face the ages of the world together." Kagome felt nervousness rise in her again, Inuyasha turning his head slightly to make sure she was okay, sensing her scent spike lightly with nervousness. At least in _that_ he wasn't alone, it was…oddly comforting to know they both felt the same. But hell who _wouldn't_ be nervous at being bound to the one you loved most forever?

"With the power coursing through my aged veins I bless this union, and the two who unite within it, the joining of their blood and bonding of their souls on this sacred night, the completion of their mating." Kagome flushed lightly, feeling Inu-no-Taishou, Izayoi and Sesshomaru standing not far from Inuyasha and her, their presence _some_ comfort at least, unlike the worrying gazes of the strange ruling demons that watched on, witnesses to the union, Sesshomaru had told her earlier.

"Lord Inuyasha?" Inuyasha nodded at the unasked question from the _priest_ (as Kagome had mentally named him), fingers enclosing around his mate's hand as he slowly led her round the back of the shoji screen, the screen shielding them from the view of the others in the hall. Her eyes widened. What the hell was going on?

"Inuyasha?" she whispered, "what's-" He held a clawed finger over her lips, careful not to touch them lest the red rub off onto his finger.

"Just listen carefully to my vows, 'cause you'll have to repeat them in a moment," he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear, indicating that she turn her back to him with his hand.

Kagome did as she was told. Jumping as she felt his hands rest suddenly on her shoulders, she felt the sudden urge to resist him as he tugged at the sash around her waist, slowly sliding the kimono from her shoulders onto the ground.

"W-What're you doing?!" she gasped almost silently.

"It's alright, they ain't gonna see you _naked_, stupid, that's what the screen is for," he assured quietly, "hand me that pallet…" Kagome looked around swiftly, seeing the said object on the stand beside her, begrudgingly handing it to him, unsure of what to expect. _What's he going to do?_

She flinched slightly in response to the tickle against her shoulder-blade, about to question him when his voice sounded, louder than before, evidently The others occupying the hall needing to hear his words. "By marking my mate with these temporary crests, I signify my vow to be selfless within our union, never to use or abuse our love or my mate selfishly." She realised what he was doing then, feeling the brush stroke over her skin, creating a mimic of a demon's crests. _Crazy demon rituals_, she thought, trying not to giggle as the brush came to rest on the opposite shoulder blade, just like his own temporary marks, curving round her upper-arm and stopping at the elbow. However, looking down, the colouring was different, the stripes adorning her flesh crimson instead of purple, unlike Inuyasha's. They reminded her of Sesshomaru's marks.

"The marks are different for the submissive partner;" he whispered quietly, "Sesshomaru inherits his natural markings from his mother. Usually I'd just paint over your existing marks, but because you're human I'm supposed to paint on you the duplicate markings of _my_ mother but…my mother doesn't have any so…" she nodded slightly in understanding. As he dipped the brush into the pallet again, this time brushing it around her lower arms and wrists, his voice raising clearly again, so that all could hear… "I vow to support my mate in anything and _everything_ in the eons to come; I'll never let her fall…" After mimicking the same stripe on the other arm, Inuyasha got to his knees, making the girl blush as she found him facing her nether regions. Revelling in the seductive little flush to her skin, finding it went nicely with her fake crests; Inuyasha cleared his throat quietly, bringing the brush to her right hip. "I vow to accept my mate no matter what, accepting her for her faults as well as her admirable qualities."

"Inuyasha? What's that stuff made of?" she whispered, trying to distract herself from the tickling against the flesh of her hip.

"It's some weird concoction for the mating ritual… It's ink mixed with herbs, sacred water, blood…"

"Blood?"

"As part of their blessing on us, every surviving member of my family has to offer some of their blood to it…" Kagome quirked a brow. _**Really**__ weird demon rituals…Can't they just say: "You have my blessing" and have done with it? It's always got to be blood… _His words projected again to every occupant in the hall, whilst his hand duplicated the marking on her left hip. "I vow to protect my mate from the horrors of the world, and never to allow any harm to come to her as long as I still have breath in my lungs."

Ever so happy to have him finish the markings adoring her hips quickly, the _former_ priestess let out a deep breath she couldn't recall holding as he got back to his feet, smirking cheekily at her as he raised the brush to her face. "I vow to remain loyal to my mate," he stated loudly, brushing two marks across her right cheek, just like Sesshomaru's, "to never wander from her loving heart, or her side. _Never_ to betray her in any way, shape or form." Kagome offered him a nervous smile as he brought the brush to her unmarked cheek, flashing a duplicate smile before speaking, and painting at the same time. "I vow to do everything within my power, and then _more_, to ensure my mate's happiness…"

Kagome's fingers clinched into her palm, her release at the tickling sensation, trying really hard not to let loose the giggle brewing in her throat. Inuyasha's smirk broadened into a grin at her lack of control, telling her to close her eyes quietly. Obeying, trusting him completely, she shut her eyes against the world, guessing where the next marks would be. She only had to think where else Sesshomaru had marks after all…

Flicking the brush across her eyelids gently, careful not to let any in her eye (not that it would have done her any harm – it just would've stung a bit) Inuyasha spoke as the liquid set fast on her flesh, flushing in advance at his oncoming words. "I vow to provide a loving, fertile relationship, and provide my mate the ability to bear healthy young." Squeezing her arm gently, signalling it was okay to open her eyes now, her eyelashes fluttered, opening, stunning Inuyasha for a moment at the mesmerising crimson adorning her lips, cheeks and eyelids in contrast with her mahogany eyes. She looked beautiful, _ten_ times more beautiful than she would have if she'd been dressed up in the way of a human wedding. He flushed darker then. "You're gorgeous…" he growled quietly, for her ears only, before dropping to his knees once more, sweeping the soft brush over her navel, scribing the kanji for his name just under her navel gently.

"I vow to my mate…" he began again, reciting the final vow, "I vow to her unconditional love and worship, more powerful and invincible than any force in this unpredictable world…" The half-demon raised himself to his feet, lifting her kimono from the ground and pulling it back round her, tying it slowly as he locked eyes with her. "To love her for the rest of eternity…and longer…" She leant forwards, blocking the tears from her eyes as she moved in to kiss him. Inuyasha's hands came up to stop her, and the girl frowned. He smirked, gesturing to her the crimson covering her lips, before taking her hand in his, leading her back out before his father and the others, his nervousness subsided somewhat. She hadn't reacted badly to that at all; in fact she'd taken it...rather well.

Kagome was slightly surprised when she resumed her place before the demon priest, only to be handed a small, thin burning bar, suddenly just noticing the incense candles arranged neatly on the shrine she, Inuyasha and the priest stood before. She swallowed nervously, throwing Inuyasha a confused look, only receiving a small nod in return. All she could do was guess what to do. Moving forwards gradually, she lit the candles, one-by-one, repeating the vows as she did so, her quavering voice struggling to make sure it was heard. She wouldn't look like a coward now. _All_ these demon lords and ladies would see just how strong she truly was.

"By setting these candles alight, I signify my vow to be selfless within our union, never to use or abuse our love or my mate selfishly," she recited, lighting a candle with each vow. "I vow to support my mate in anything and everything in the eons to come; I'll never let him fall. I vow to accept my mate no matter what, accepting him for his faults as well as his admirable qualities. I vow to protect my mate from the horrors of the world, and never to allow any harm to come to him as long as I still have breath in my lungs. I vow to remain loyal to my mate, to never wander from his loving heart, or his side. Never to betray him in any way, shape or form. I vow to do everything within my power, and then _more_, to ensure his happiness. I vow to provide a loving, fertile relationship, and bear my mate healthy young. I vow to him unconditional love and worship, more powerful and invincible than any force in this unpredictable world. To love him for the rest of eternity, and _so much _longer." Letting out a little sigh of relief, she turned, the faces of the _audience_ blank, but she could tell…they were all shocked she hadn't screwed up…

Returning to Inuyasha's side, Kagome met his eyes, telling he was silently praising her for her confidence. He was proud of her. Tearing his eyes from his soon-to-be mate, Inuyasha accepted the goblet the priest held out to him, taking a quick sip from it. Kagome seemed to lighten at the sight. This she remembered! She knew what to do next! Feeling excited she'd managed to actually _decipher_ something from Inu-no-Taishou's brief explanation earlier, she took the goblet from Inuyasha when it was offered to her, sipping the water from the opposite side Inuyasha had drunk from.

"I hereby bless this union." The cool words of the aged demon flowed over everyone, and Sesshomaru threw Inuyasha a congratulating look as their father neared the shrine the candles sat on, leaning down anbd writing towards the ancient script lying there uselessly. Kagome arced a brow in confusion, causing Inuyasha to mouth something along the lines of _'the family tree'_ before the elderly demon spoke. "This union is completed, and will be finalised upon enactment of the final duty…" Those words were slightly daunting… _'Final duty'_… What exactly did he mean?

She didn't have long to wait to find out. After managing to escape the congratulating crowds and overly happy Izayoi and Inu-no-Taishou, Kagome felt Inuyasha snatch her arm, dodging out of the hall unseen, leaving the celebrating demons behind them, as they ascended the grand staircase to Inuyasha's – _their_ room…

She was sceptic of what was to come; after all they'd already _consummated _their coupling, what more left to be done? She was sceptic, that is, until the chamber door closed behind them, and Inuyasha leapt towards her, smashing his lips against hers. She trembled under the ardent embrace as she felt him run his clawed fingers through her hair, drawing out the combs, leaving it to fall freely down her back. Breaking apart, Inuyasha smiled lustfully, Kagome smirking at the imprint of her lip-colour on his mouth. Leaning forwards to brush the mark away, she felt him staring at her, and found herself staring back. He looked, _strange_ with those crests, not in a bad way, she'd just, rather have her half-demon the way he was. And though she knew for a fact he felt the same way about her, she _also_ knew he was liking her forged crests an _awful_ lot.

"Like what you see, Inuyasha?" she asked coquettishly, wrapping her arms round his neck. He smiled.

"Gods, do I…" Giggling slightly, Kagome kissed him gently.

"Inuyasha? What is the _'final duty'_?" Inuyasha smirked this time, lowering himself to his knees before her.

"I'll show you…" he growled, clawed fingers pushing her kimono up above her hips, leaning in to brush his mouth over her inner thigh. Hearing a hiss of pleasure draw from her lips, he seized the crimson garter with his teeth, dragging it off slowly, allowing her to leisurely step out of it. Coming back up to where it had been, Inuyasha cast a flushed look back up to her. "This might sting for a bit, okay?" she nodded apprehensively. A small scream tore from her throat as she felt his fangs sink into her previously unmarred flesh, the teeth pulling back swiftly to allow its accompanying tongue to lick apologetically at the wound, causing it to heal rapidly.

"Wha-What did you do?" she asked hazily, feeling her body overcome with sudden tremors from his attentions.

"It's my mating mark…the union is sealed now…we're mates." She smiled again at that. They were together, properly, forever. Bound to each other for the rest of eternity. _Nothing_ could stand in the way of their happiness, not anymore…

"Lord Inuyasha?" The said half-demon growled at the cowering voice sounding from beyond the door. He heard his new mate laughing slightly at his annoyance at being _interrupted_, as he headed to the door, flinging it open. He was _most_ aggravated.

"What?" The young servant seemed mortified, taking a step back slightly at Inuyasha's terseness.

"I-I'm sorry to _interrupt _you Sire, however…" Inuyasha scowled, much rather doing a certain _something else_ with Kagome than talking to this whelp!

"_However_?!!" The dark-haired demon's head snapped up obediently, seeming to suddenly find some backbone.

"However, there are some people arrived in the foyer, Sire. They say they wish to speak with Lady Kagome." Inuyasha's eyes widened, turning slowly to face his mate. She looked bewildered. They were clearly both wondering the same thing. Who would come to see her? She didn't know anybody. Who the hell was it, and perhaps, more importantly…what did they _want _with her?

TBC

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A/N: 10 MS word pages, not bad ^_^ Okay, I realise you were all holding out for the lusty mating night, but trust me...the suprise I have in store leads to something...oh SOOO much better XD Review me to find out wonderful people!

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	12. 12 Clandestine

Author's Note:

I'll be honest and say after chapter 6 I had no plan whatsoever for this story, it just went where my mind took me. I had an idea at the beginning of each chappie left over from the last and then wherever it ended up was just as much of a shock to me as it was to you ^_^ But I've plotted it all out now, I figured out pretty much what's gunna happen (muahahaha), wonder how long this fic'll last *wonders* We'll just have ta see, ne? ^_^ Okies, everybody seems to be happy with the story still, and you're all anxious to find whose behind the door so I won't keep you in suspence much longer XD Love ya All! *chu*

**Just a little note here you might wanna read:**

**It might seem a little confusing but there's a bit in here where Kagome is talking to someone, and then it changes scene, and Inuyahsa walks in on the conversation, BUT a little more time has passed between the scene changes if that makes sense, and that's why when there is one person with Kagome when her scene ends, there is more when Inuyasha stumbles upon them. K? Hope that doesn't sound TOO confusing XD **

Enjoy and review lovely people!

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Clandestine

Twelve

_Sesshomaru sighed as he closed the door to his brother's chambers behind him, resting against it monetarily. That pup was such a handful! He growled a little, wishing only for his bed just down the hall. It seemed that his brother, half-demon or no, had a_ lot_ of energy…far too much energy for a pup! And it seemed, that his father and Izayoi always dropped him in his lap whenever they deemed possible. In fact, he was the constant _baby-sitter_! Izayoi seemed to just set the crazed little critter loose then send him (Sesshomaru that is) after him. He walked down the halls towards his room, Sesshomaru sighed again. Just when had this odd little family started to become so much to him, particularly that irritant little pup that demanded every ounce of his attention. Somewhere along the line he'd changed, his once frozen heart had thawed, warming up to his father's mate and their son. _

"_Sesshomaru?" the demon lord turned to the feminine voice, growling under his breath as he met the eyes of the demoness coming towards him – His 'intended'. _Insufferable wench, _he thought, forcing a sneer of a smile as she stopped before him. "Sesshomaru, dearest, where were you this afternoon, I didn't see you at all after that pup dragged you off with him after dinner." The demon raised a brow._

"_You refer to Inuyasha?" she nodded, sneering slightly. "He is my little brother; I must indulge him in his childish antics. Children have insatiable appetites for love and attention." The demoness followed him as he turned to walk away, slipping her hand into his arm, not noticing how he growled quietly at the contact. How _dare_ she presume she could touch him so casually?! Just because his father had introduced him to her as a suitor, and for the sake of pleasing his father, who'd only wanted him to take an interest in taking a mate, trying to get his eldest son to even _speak_ to women not really thinking he'd ask this particular one, he'd accepted the notion of their _engagement_. Sesshomaru hadn't really cared. He had no intentions towards the simpering wenches of his species, they were all selfish and arrogant, so why not just choose one that appreciated his good looks and station in life, one who'd be loyal and have at it? He didn't really care for the romance side of life, but for tradition and all that, he might as well just go along with it._

"_But you could have refused. Who said you have to be the one to play such idiotic games with that brat?" Sesshomaru didn't look at her. He _had _only just been thinking that, but what gave _her_ the right to say it?_

"_Inuyasha asked me," he said simply._

"_And?"_

"_And that is all. There is nothing more to it. Do not question my decisions." She clung tighter then._

"_No My lord, of course not. It is just distressing to see you fritter away your valuable time for that half-demon, he is so greedy with your affection, I merely-"_

"_-Called my younger brother a half-demon brat? Use such words in regards for my own flesh and blood once more and I will make you _eat_ those words." She pulled away from him, and he stopped, regarding her with warning in his eyes. _

"_He _is_ a half-demon is he not?"_

"_Indeed, however this world is full of cruel beings who will constantly remind him of that, who will remind him how _different_ from the rest of us he is, when in reality, he's not so different at all."_

"_Lord Sesshomaru-"_

"_-He is my brother, half-blood or no, do not presume to be in higher regard just because we're intended. Rest assured I would love a _horse_ more than _you_ – A selfish, preening _whore_!" _

"_Do you mean to say that you really do love that mongrel?!" She let out a little scream as he slapped her hard across her face, sneering with disgust upon her._

"_It seems I've made a mistake with you, I hereby revoke our engagement. I have no wish to be mated to a wench who would hate an innocent little boy just because of the love a demon showed a human." Turning and stalking away from him indignantly. "And to answer your question, yes, I _do_ love my brother," Sesshomaru growled, as she turned the corner, out of sight. Thankfully, that'd be the last he'd ever see of _her._ It was after that, he soon decided, he didn't want to take a mate just for the sake of it, he'd have to at least _like _her, and of course, he'd have to be sure she liked Inuyasha. Even if that meant he'd _never_ find a mate…_

Sesshomaru took another swig from his goblet, wondering just why that particular memory had come to him right then. Perhaps he'd never really imagined Inuyasha would find have his mating ceremony before him, or to be truthful not cruel, _ever_. Not many in this feudal era would love Inuyasha despite his faults, and yet, here he was celebrating the very fact that his little brother _had_ found someone, and that he'd be expecting a niece or nephew not far from now. It was this fact, and the reality of the memory of his little brother's honest face, all the times he'd come to him for advice whilst growing up, and the secrets he'd divulged to him, it made him guilty for not divulging such secrets to Inuyasha in return, particularly the darkest secret, which lurked in his heart. No, not even to _Inuyasha_ could he speak of it, it wasn't just his secret to tell, after all…

He frowned slightly as he smelt Inuyasha and Kagome coming closer. But hadn't they only just escaped? One would assume they'd be consummating their mating. What could be wrong? Getting to his feet, he excused himself from the conversation he'd been pretending to listen to, and headed through the doors out into the foyer.

***

Inuyasha's breath came out in short, harsh pants as he leapt down the stairs after Kagome, the girl descending the staircase several steps ahead of him. His mind raced. Who was it? What did they want with her? Did they want to hurt her? Where did they come from? He sensed the panic spike in her scent, she was afraid, anxious. Did she know who it was at the doors? No, _confusion_, that was obvious in her scent as well. She was just as clueless as he. Only he could tell, _he_ was the more frightened of the two. Everyone she'd ever known or loved before coming here had been killed in that fire, the Revolutionaries burnt her village to the ground. Whoever it was, he could be sure they wouldn't bring anything but problems…

"Kagome!" The once priestess stopped on the final stair, looking up towards the voice, her eyes widening in confused disbelief, tears pricking at the backs of her temporarily crimson-lidded eyes.

"Y-You're…you're alive?!" she gasped, her hand over her mouth as the voice's owner darted towards her.

"Kagome! Oh my gods, thank goodness you're safe!" Inuyasha frowned in confusion as the woman wrapped her arms tightly around his mate, Kagome returning the embrace, and he could sense her tears. Who _was_ this?

"When they took the village down…oh gods, Kagome I was so scared you'd been in there. But then we found out you'd come here, we've been travelling all night to get here…" Kagome pulled back in the hug, examining the woman's face closely. The woman's brow creased slightly.

"K-Kagome?" Her voice sounded confused, a little scared, stepping back from the _once-_priestess.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Your crests," Kagome turned to see Inuyasha descending the last few steps to stand beside her, his eyes trained on the female in front of her, suspicion in his gaze. "She wants to know why you've got the crests." Clearly only just remembering, Kagome's fingers ran unconsciously over the crimson stripes adorning her cheeks, "So," Inuyasha voice still sounded suspicious, slightly bitter. _Well yeah, _her mind supplied, _the guy is missing out on his mating night_…

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" the half-demon asked huskily. Sensing the threatening aura coming off her mate in waves, Kagome couldn't help but wonder…

"Umm, yeah, Inuyasha, this is Sango," she said, indicating to the obsidian-haired-woman in the demon slayer's garb, "Sango's my friend from back at my village-"

"-The Demon slayer's village?" he asked sceptically, Kagome not liking the tone of his voice – _accusing_.

"Yeah, the _reformed_ one, remember?" She huffed slightly, Kagome smiled warmly at Sango, "she was more like a sister to me…" Inuyasha raised a brow at the woman.

"Really?" his voice, it was expressionless, _careless_, so like his brother's and so unlike himself it was frightening her a little, "care to tell your friend who I am?" _Ah, _thought Kagome, understanding a little of his 'discomfort', _he thinks I'll regret it, thinks I'll leave him. He thinks I'm ashamed of telling my friend I'm in love with a half-demon…_

"Sango, this is Inuyasha," she explained, wetting her lips slightly in apprehension of her friend's reaction to her next words, "my mate." Sango seemed knocked back in astonishment, her mouth moving soundlessly for a moment until she seemed able to form words.

""Y-You're _mate_? As in…an eternal bond of love and devotion, to this demon you met – _what? _– A few mere weeks ago?"

"Sango, it's not what it looks like-"

"-Kagome I…its okay I…I'm not mad that you love a demon, you _know_ me, you know how I feel about all this," the demon slayer gestured to the halls around her, even Inuyasha for a brief moment. "It's just…with the crests and…that demonic kimono, it's…a little too much to-"

"-Inuyasha," the two humans the half-demon looked to Sesshomaru as he came towards them, offering them a slightly confused expression. "What is the matter, Little Brother? Why are you and Kagome not…upstairs?" Inuyasha flushed a little, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"This is Kagome's friend, Sango…she err…ummm…" Inuyasha huffed tensely, throwing Kagome a strange look. "Look, you and Sango probably wanna catch up, so I'll…I'll just see you later."

"Inuyasha wait!" Kagome frowned as Inuyasha ignored her words, stalking down the hall and out of sight, Sesshomaru bowing slightly to her, before following swiftly after his brother.

"He's a sensitive one," Sango commented, watching Kagome's different expression, "Kagome? Kagome are you alright?" The girl snapped out of her thoughtfulness, meeting her friend's gaze.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine I just…" she sighed softly, "tired and…I don't know…" The ex-priestess fell into silence, not sure of what to say, not sure what Sango _wanted _her to say, just staring blankly in the direction that Inuyasha disappeared. _What was he so upset about? _

***

Inuyasha growled under his breath, sensing his brother following him. He knew his brother only wanted him to be happy, only wanted to help, but honestly, he didn't _want_ any help right now, not until he'd had a moment to cool off, he didn't want Sesshomaru to get the brunt of his bewildered anger. However, Sesshomaru's footsteps drifted away slightly, as if his brother had sensed his need for solitude, he'd taken off down a different corridor, allowing him his much desired seclusion.

The darkness greeted his senses as Sesshomaru stopped outside his destination, a closed door. Waiting a moment, allowing his effervescent thoughts to settle back into the dark recesses of his mind, he raised a pale hand to the wood, knocking gently. A soft, murmuring response came from the room beyond the door. Turning his head swiftly, he checked that no one was watching and he turned the knob slowly, entering.

"I admit I am surprised, how is it that you managed to escape the celebrations in the hall?"

"Lord Sesshomaru," that voice he knew so well cooed, greeting his senses, "I've been waiting for you…"

"Indeed," Sesshomaru replied wearily, "there is something you wanted to see me about, was there not?" The other person in the room nodded slightly. "I told you, that I would do anything within my power to assist you, providing my brother and father were not alerted of our allegiance, did I not?"

"Yes, My Lord…"

"Then, what is it that you want of me?" he asked with waning impassiveness.

"Are you sure you are up to the challenge, My Lord?"

"Your wish is my command… What do you want me to do?" he asked, closing the door behind him, stepping further into the room.

***

"And this…_Lord Inuyasha_…he helped you?" Kagome nodded, her mahogany eyes gazing thoughtfully at her reflection in the fountain's water, still slightly startled by her forged crests, but she wasn't really looking at herself, she was looking _past _it, wondering what had upset Inuyasha so much in those few brief moments. It seemed she always ended up in this garden, in this same place by this same fountain. This place, it gave her some…_comfort_. As for _why_ it gave her such a safe, sheltered feeling, she didn't fully comprehend, and she supposed, it didn't really matter either.

"He helped me, Sango," Kagome said distantly, squeezing her friend's hand as if that would help her to understand. "He's a half-demon-"

"-A half-demon?" Sango looked surprised. "But…the crests he had were-"

"-No, that was…because of…our mating night…" she flushed slightly with her words, gesturing to the crests adorning her face. "That's why I've got them too, because we just completed the mating ceremony."

"Oh…" The demon slayer seemed embarrassed too, to think of what she might've interrupted by arriving when she did…

"And Inuyasha he's…he and, Izayoi, Sesshomaru and Inu-no-Taishou, they…they're _good_ people, Sango, they're kind to me, they protect me…I think they care about me." Her friend offered her a sympathetic gaze, stroking her hair softly.

"Kagome-"

"-No, Sango _listen_. When I came here, Katsura tried to kill me before I told them about the Revolutionary spies; he tried to _rape_ me Sango. But Inuyasha he…Gods, that Katsura, he tried to rape me, he tried to _kill_ me, made me do things that I just…" Kagome shook her head slightly, as if shaking the thoughts from her mind. "He did all those things and yet during it all I…all I could worry about was Inuyasha – what he'd say, what he'd think of me – I'm in _love_ with him Sango! I_ love_ him!"

"Kagome, you're-"

"-And he loves _me_ in return. Don't look at me like that, like I'm still that stupid, _naïve_ kid in our village that everyone had to protect, I know it's not been that long, mere _days_ but its true! I don't know…Mama always used to talk about fate and…_destiny_. I never really believed her, until now… Mama, Sota, Grandpa…they only had to die for me to realise how right they were about everything …Five years, five, long lonely years without them, but I'm glad they weren't there to watch our village burn…" Sango smiled comfortingly at her friend.

"Your family loved you, Kagome; even death can't change that…" Kagome nodded, blinking back tears. "And there's nothing you could've done to save them, you know that, right?"

"I know…all this time, I've been so lost without them, we lived in the same house, ate the same food, drank the same water, _breathed_ the same _air_. Why did they get sick and not me?" Sango gave the girl's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Maybe it's just how things are meant to be, there's a purpose for all of us. You know that, right? You lived for a reason." Suddenly, Kagome's lips quirked into a warm smile, confusing the demon slayer slightly.

"I know…and that's just it, I think that…I think I'm _meant_ to be with Inuyasha, to be here _now_, and…make a difference…"

"Look, Kagome," Sango said with a small sigh, seeming exhausted, "I'm not saying I don't believe you Kagome, I'm not saying he doesn't love you, or that you don't love him…I just think that…mating with a demon, half-demon _whatever_, it's a big choice, one you should take _time_ to think about. It offers big compensations, but requires big sacrifices as well…" Kagome frowned slightly, not fully understanding.

"I know…I was aware of them when I-"

"-Have you used your powers since you've united?"

"Huh?"

"Your priestess powers? Have you purified anything? Used sacred arrows?" Kagome shook her head. "He put his mark on you – that affects both of you, he's _inside of you_. That's got to do stuff Kagome, that's why these rituals are rarely done between humans and demons, because the sacrifice on the human's behalf is often too great for _either_ partners to risk."

"Y-You…you mean I don't have my powers anymore? Am I not human anymore? Am I gonna die _what_?" Sango seized her friend's shoulder firmly, steadying her, stopping her panic.

"I don't know Kagome, I don't know to what extent his blood may change you. I'm a demon _slayer_, I know about rituals, about their habits and _habitats_, but, they're still a mystery to me… I'd say the only person who can tell you these things is Inu-no-Taishou himself." Kagome swallowed hard at the prospect of asking The Demon Lord of the Western lands how much having sex and being impregnated by his son might've changed her human boy. _Oh my Gods, that reminds me…_

"Sango, I err…you know you said…_'he's inside of' _me? Well umm….you…you have no idea how close to the truth you struck with that one…" Tilting her head slightly in confusion, Sango's brow furrowed.

"What do you mean?" As if to emphasise the point, Kagome released her friend's hands, holding them lightly over her stomach.

"I'm...Well I'm pregnant," she said simply, watching the other female's eyebrows arch in surprise. She remained that way for a few moments, not moving, not speaking. When at last she found her voice, it was astonished a _lot _higher than usual.

"Oh…" the demon slayer squeaked.

***

Sighing softly, Inuyasha headed towards the gardens, where he could sense Kagome's scent, along with the scent of that other woman…and someone _else_…_Two_ 'someone-elses' to be precise. Descending the stairs, Inuyasha looked out through the archways that made up the castle's glassless windows, overlooking the gardens he'd spent so much time in during his youth. He could see what was happening, even hear their voices thanks to his demon-heightened senses.

"_So this half-demon – Inuyasha did you say his name was?" Kagome nodded at the dark-haired-man dressed in indigo robes who stood before her, next to the demon slayer. "He helped you, protected you from Katsura and the 'Revolutionaries', and you somehow within the small span of time fell in love, and tonight's your mating night?" Kagome nodded again._

"_And now you're saying you're pregnant?!" Another voice chimed in, a smaller, younger voice that came from the child on Sango's lap. "Cool…"_

"_Shippo, it is _not_ cool," the man scolded lightly, causing Kagome to throw him an enraged look._

"_Miroku! How dare you say tha-"_

"_-I didn't mean it like that," he said kindly, waving his hands defensively as she leapt to her feet, ready to defend herself against any possible accusations. "I just meant that…with this 'Katsura' and the others targeting you specifically for some unknown reason, it is unwise to let our guard down with this…"_

"_You mean…you're not angry at me?" Kagome asked hopefully._

"_No…I'm just…worried for you…you've rushed into this and I just…I don't want you to be hurt, Kagome…"_

"_I agree," chimed in Sango, her arms wrapped loosely around Shippo. "I just feel that, we don't know anything about this _'Inuyasha', _and we're worried you might've made a mistake in him. That's all."_

Inuyasha growled softly, inaudibly, darting back up the stairs angrily. So they didn't approve of him did they? How _dare _they storm in here and ruin everything, just who did they think they were? It only enraged him more to see Kagome so desperate for their approval. Who _cared_ what they thought? _Then again, _he thought, _they're like her family, it'd make sense she doesn't want them to be angry with her. Nevertheless…_ That'd mean he'd have to work a little harder to impress them, which would be difficult to say the least. _Still, it'll make Kagome happy, _he though with a smile, walking along the halls towards his brother's chambers. He figured who better to ask for advice on how to impress people than the demon who should be awarded for the number of females (and even some _males_) that salivated at his finesse and good looks.

Not bothering to knock, Inuyasha opened his brother's door, noticing the little jump in Sesshomaru's muscles. He'd surprised him.

"We're a little old to be waltzing into each other's chambers before announcing ourselves, are we not Little brother?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes, not seeing the way Sesshomaru hurriedly tossed aside the cloth he'd been wiping his hands on.

"Whatever, it's not like you'll be _doing _anything." Sesshomaru smirked.

"Despite what you might think, I _do_ have _intimate liaisons _with members of the opposite sex from time to time…I am just discreet about it, which is more than I can say for _you_, Little brother." Inuyasha flushed, his elder brother holding back a laugh as he sat on the end of his bed.

"Jackass…"

"Indeed, nevertheless, what is it you wanted Inuyasha?" Snapping from his embarrassment, Inuyasha came towards his brother, stopping before him.

"Kagome's friends don't like me too much."

"Hard to believe," Sesshomaru replied, sarcasm in his voice, only causing his brother to smirk at the comment.

"You prick. Just listen would ya? And they don't approve of me, or the pup much either, and their approval just seems so important to Kagome that I…I want to know how to impress them. And you, well people always like you, so I was wondering…" Inuyasha trailed off then, not because of embarrassment, or awkwardness, his nose twitched slightly, he could smell something…

Sesshomaru's eyes widened slightly, and he got to his feet. "I will help you Inuyasha, but not right now. Right now I need to get back to father and the guests so I can-"

"-Blood."

"What?"

"I can smell blood…_human _blood…on _you_." Sesshomaru said nothing, watching his younger brother's eyes carefully as the half-demon approached him closer, his nose still sniffing the air. "What did you do? Answer me Sesshomaru! Why do you stink of human blood?!"

"Inuyasha."

"Don't _'Inuyasha' _me – WHAT DID YOU DO TO GET HUMAN BLOOD ON YOU!!!"

"Inuyasha listen to me-"

"-What did you think that I couldn't smell it just because you washed it off? Oh, right, excuse me; I'm just _half_ demon – half-demon half _everything_, right?" Sesshomaru sneered at his brother putting words in his mouth.

"They are NOT my words and you-"

"-DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT! I CAN **SMELL **HUMAN BLOOD ON YOU! WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE!!!" His brother's cold exterior settled in to place, not a word falling from his lips. "Answer me, _Brother_…" Inuyasha growled dangerously, claws biting into his palm, drawing blood in his anger. Still, Sesshomaru said nothing. Snarling angrily, the half-demon stormed out the room, slamming the door behind him.

He couldn't believe it. His brother, his own flesh and blood – the one who he'd always counted on, always admired, _loved_, _trusted_ – he'd betrayed him. Tears of anger spilled down his cheeks as he slammed his fist into the wall, the woodwork biting into his flesh, blood streaming from his knuckles. _Why_ had everything gone so wrong? He growled again, his fist slamming repetitively into the wall, again and again and again. A loud, pained scream of fury tore from his throat and into the dim halls, echoing around him. The one person he'd trusted about all else…he'd betrayed him…_that_ was what hurt the most, not the betrayal of _everything_ they'd been striving for all this time, not that he'd taken an innocent human life, it was that _Sesshomaru_ had done it, and Sesshomaru had been the one he trusted. The betrayal of his trust and love was what tore at his heart, making it ache. In all his long years of being tormented for being different, for the most part _friendless_, loved only by his family – even through all the anguish he'd suffered, he'd never felt so utterly, and completely alone…

TBC

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A/N: Hmmm, chapter 13 has 13 pages 0_0 Freaky... Neways, what'd ya think of the slice of Sesshomaru flashback at the beginning? I just thought that, as well as laying the foundations for another little surprise Me and Sesshomaru have in store (muhahahaha) I could show exactly why a gorgeous little slice of smex like Sesshomaru isn't 'mated' yet. Also, a guest appearance of some certain ppls some of you were asking about ^_^ Neways, Likey? Leave me a nice little review to encourage me, please? ^_^

Love Shigure

x chuu x


	13. 13 Fraternal Treachery

Author's Note:

Enjoy, love it...review me! Please? *puppy eyes*

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Fraternal Treachery ~ Strangers' Acceptance

Fourteen

Kagome sighed as she ran her fingers slowly over her stomach, ascending the stairs carefully. She didn't know why, but she felt all that much more vulnerable, all that more weak since she'd found out about the small, dependant life growing inside of her. These stairs were even a task enough, she felt so exhausted already, like she was going to fall. Pausing a moment at the top of the first flight of stairs, the once-priestess rested the small of her back against the banister, breathing heavily. Izayoi had said that her pregnancy would be virtually the same as a human one, yet it would occur much quicker. Apparently Inuyasha had only taken eight weeks to fully mature inside his mother's womb. At least at that she could breathe a sigh of relief. Only two months of pregnancy, she supposed, that was an upside only to be opposed by the long and painful labour Izayoi had warned her that she was in store for because of the baby's mixed blood.

The dim hum of Inu-no-Taishou's voice below in the main hall could still be heard slightly from where she rested, a small smile creeping across her face. Her heart had stopped in her chest when Inu-no-Taishou had found her, Sango and the others, the demon slayer mid-arguing whether Inuyasha was trustworthy or not. She'd been glad, however, when the demon lord hadn't taken offence, and had even gone as far as to _understand. _Although then her _'father-in-law' _had jokingly reprimanded her for being out in the cold in her _'condition'_, hastily shooing her back up to see her mate. Her cheeks were still flushed from the suggestive wink he offered her at the swift mentioning of it being her _'mating night'_ and all…

Suddenly a shuddering crash sounded from the hall to the left of the landing. Her head turned to hear several repetitive slams against the wall, causing her to flinch with the sound. Steadying herself on the banister, feeling slightly dizzy all of a sudden, Kagome stopped. That voice. That harsh, agonised cry – she recognised it. "Inuyasha?" she called shakily, shutting her eyes against the spinning world, one hand resting over her face whilst the other clenched tight to the banister of the staircase, knuckles beginning to turn white. No answer. "Inuyasha?!"

A sharp jolt of someone seizing her by the shoulders ripped a tiny yelp of surprise from her throat. Eyes shooting open her heart thudded rapidly in her chest, as she gasped slightly. "Inuyasha don't _do _that!" she scolded. Wetting his dry lips, the half-demon blinked hard, avoiding her eyes until the tears had disappeared from his own.

"S-Sorry…" he murmured, pulling his hands down from her arms before she could glimpse the bleeding, torn flesh on his knuckles where they'd smacked into the stone wall. Too late.

"Inuyasha! What's happened? Your hand is-"

"-It's nothing," he cut her off blankly.

"Do _'nothings' _usually bleed that bad-"

"-I said it's _nothing_!" She recoiled slightly at his abrupt shouting. Inuyasha had never raised his voice to her like that before. Her brow furrowed slightly as she stepped away from the banister to rest her hands on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you…" he apologised, leaning into her touch, lightly grazing the side of his cheek against one of the hands on his shoulders. "I just…I'm not having a good day…everything's just…I think I need to…" The girl squeezed her mate's shoulders gently as his voice trailed off into confused silence.

"It's alright. You don't have to tell me. Let's just go to bed, okay?" he nodded, turning to face her in the embrace, pressing his lips gently to hers. Drawing apart a little, he touched noses with her gently before venturing speech.

"Kagome? I…I just need to…" The half-demon's words lost themselves in his throat once more, as his golden eyes flickered to the creature practically gliding towards them. Sesshomaru stopped, watching his brother and Kagome impassively. Swallowing lightly, Kagome's gaze wavered over the two brothers, feeling awkward at the tension between them. "Get _away _from me. _Traitor_…" Inuyasha growled lividly, drawing towards the full-demon, away from Kagome's embrace.

"You're still my little brother, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru said blankly, causing Inuyasha to flinch at the seemingly affectionate words.

"I _thought _you were…_once_. You…the one I trusted more than _anyone_. The one I believed in…that I _thought_ believed in _me_. All those times when I was younger I wanted to _be_ you. But now…" he finally met his brother's eyes resolutely, his voice stronger than before, bearing a coldness that sounded foreign to his voice. "I'd rather be a _'mangy __**half**__-breed' _than a filthy traitor." Sesshomaru's face narrowed into a slight scowl.

"And _this _is all you can say? To me? To the brother who has watched over you since you were in your swaddling cloth? To the person who has done nothing but protect and dote over you, keep your secrets – this is all you can say?" Inuyasha tore his eyes from him, unwilling to let him see the hurt within them. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"No…I can say more. Oh _so _much more…but I…I won't."

"Inuyasha-"

"-I won't tell Father," Inuyasha said, cutting across Kagome's words. "I won't tell him, I can spare him the news that his heir is a treacherous bastard at least…if you leave." Sesshomaru's eyes widened.

"What?"

"If you go, _now_. I won't tell father what you've done…you're right. You're my brother, whatever you've done, whatever you say, you're my flesh and blood, and if father finds out he'll kill you himself…I can't do that to you. I won't condemn you to death. So _go_." Inuyasha raised his tear-laden eyes to his brother again, biting his lip in anger at his obvious misery. He loved his brother, why did this have to happen? Sending him away was tearing his insides apart, but he couldn't stay…not now, not after this…

"Inuyasha-"

"-GO!" The half-demon screamed over Sesshomaru's voice. Blinking back the tinge of glassiness in his stoic eyes, the demon held his brother's gaze a moment longer, moving past him.

"I meant what I said. You're still my little brother, Inuyasha," he said softly, descending the stairs, once more…

***

"So, you're Inuyasha." The half-demon raised an eyebrow at the demon slayer's words; it was a statement, not a question. The sun of the next day had risen fully in the sky by now, and to Inuyasha's horror he'd discovered the morning routine apparently included impressing Sango, Miroku and the kitsune whelp at their side. _Damn humans_, he growled mentally. He wasn't in the mood for this. He hadn't finished sulking – _thinking _in his room about Sesshomaru…

""Well he's good looking enough," Sango noted, speaking as if she'd quite forgotten he were there.

"Indeed," commented the monk, "yet he seems grumpy and from the sounds of his shouting yesterday evening I would assume he is quite violent." A Little growl brewed in Inuyasha's throat.

"He's not, _really _Miroku he's always gentle to me. Besides that, he's only really ever violent when I'm in danger, and he's only being grumpy because you're probing him for answers." A silly little grin struck the monk's face, and Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at him. Suddenly the monk's human wife jabbed him hard in the side, making him yelp slightly.

"Ignore him; he's a lecherous creep who finds the word _'probe' _funny, along with many other words." Kagome clasped her hands together to bring the attention back to her.

"Listen Sango. Honestly, Inuyasha loves me; he would and _has _protected me with his life. It's as simple as that. He'll never let anything happen to me, _or _the baby, and I…I want you to like him too…" The once-priestess glanced over to Inuyasha, who was watching her strangely. _Stupid woman, _he growled mentally, _hundreds of humans that have been living in these lands half my __**life **__still haven't accepted me. Why would a __**demon **__slayer and a __**monk **__do so within less than a day?!_

"Oh I like him," Sango smiled mischievously; "I liked him the minute I caught sight of those ears of his." Inuyasha blushed, his ears twitching unconsciously at being noticed. Suddenly the kitsune leapt up onto Kagome's shoulder, tweaking one of the said ears curiously.

"Cool. Will your baby have ears like this, Kagome?"

"Hey!" Inuyasha shouted, shaking off the grip that Shippo had on his ear. "I'm still here you know!" Kagome laughed quietly. "And it's a _pup _not a _baby_."

"Well, as long as I get a kid with cool dog ears to play with later on, I guess _Inuyasha _isn't all that bad."

"Gee, thanks for the complement," the half-demon said sarcastically, crossing his arms sulkily, but secretly thankful they'd accepted him, and slightly moved by their practically immediate approval. He was startled from his thoughts when the monk bowed slightly to him.

"I hope we will become great friends, Lord Inuyasha." Inuyasha blinked a couple of times at him.

"Keh, maybe, if you stop that _'Lord' _business right away." Miroku smirked a little.

"We support you and Inuyasha in this, Kagome, all the way," Sango assured her, placing her hands on her friend's shoulders. "However, I insist that we stay here and assist you and Lord Inu-no-Taishou in this battle." Kagome flicked a glance at Inuyasha swiftly, before meeting the demon slayer's eyes once more. "The revolutionaries, they destroyed _everything _and _everyone _in our home, we _have _to stop them. I won't let them get away with it." The woman seemed to serious, so powerful, even for a mere human, Inuyasha had to watch her with disguised interest. "Besides," she added, a little less cryptically, "Lord Inu-no-Taishou has already offered Miroku, Kohaku and I a place in his army." Whilst Inuyasha was partially despaired, partially intrigued at the news they'd be staying, Kagome frowned slightly.

"Kohaku made it out alive? Where is he?" Sango smiled warmly.

"He's on his way here. He and Kilala were out on a mission when the village was attacked so…" Sango's words trailed off, the woman obviously uncomfortable with the subject.

"Hey," Inuyasha interrupted cautiously, touching Kagome's arm gently, "while this little meeting is fun and all, we can play 'catch-up' later, the demon lords and ladies are leaving, we have to be with Father and Mother when they _'bid farewell' _to them." He rolled his eyes slightly. "Some crappy _'royal' _duty, it sucks, but we gotta do it." Kagome nodded, promising Sango and the others that they'd be back quickly, before following Inuyasha towards the main hall.

***

"Are you sure you have to leave?" Inu-no-Taishou asked quietly. "What has brought this on so suddenly? Do you not like it here any longer?" Sesshomaru shook his head, a small shred of a smile passing his features.

"It is not that I assure you, Father. I merely wish to travel a little. See our lands for myself, as I have not been able to do since Mother died. It is not forever, just…for a while." Inu-no-Taishou watched him carefully, staring into his oldest son's eyes deeply, as if searching for some part of the boy that had once never left his side.

"And what of the revolutionaries? Of Inuyasha? Will you not even stay for him?" Sesshomaru shook his head again.

"The revolutionaries are part of the reason I wish to go. Whilst they stay away from us, you can rest assured they're inflicting damage somewhere else in our lands, I wish to go, Father. And as for Inuyasha, he as good as told me – that he thought it would be good for me to go." At this, the demon lord raised a dark brow.

"You have not strayed from your post at Inuyasha's side since you first held him… Something is wrong." Sesshomaru pressed his hands on his father's shoulders reassuringly.

"Father, believe me, nothing is wrong. I admit, leaving Inuyasha is hard, particularly under the circumstances, however-"

"-Then do not leave," Inu-no-Taishou interrupted, "I do not want one of my sons beyond the walls, unprotected in this warring era. True, you are strong, and are more than capable of taking care of yourself, but I… They have _ways, _Sesshomaru, ways of making even the strongest and wisest fall, and to have you out of my sight is just-"

"-_However_, Inuyasha needs to be strong now. You said it yourself; he is just as much your son as I am. So let him _be _your son, a _demon lord_. He has the strength, let him the chance to use it. And let me the chance to use mine." Inu-no-Taishou sighed heavily, almost sadly.

"Keep safe, my son, make sure you bring yourself safely back." Sesshomaru nodded, turned to walk away from his parents, just as he felt something seize his arm gently. Looking down into the face of the one holding him, he blinked in secret shock at the sight of Izayoi's embrace. Pulling back slightly, the woman glanced behind her to be sure that Inu-no-Taishou was no longer watching, before leaning up on the tips of her toes to whisper to him.

"I know why you're leaving…" Golden eyes widened.

"Inuyasha told-"

"-No." she assured him. "Inuyasha hasn't said anything, in fact it's news to me that he knows, however I…I worked it out myself and I…I _understand_, Sesshomaru, and I won't disown you. Why would I? You're as much my son as Inuyasha is, you always have been. And I…I hope you find the strength to come back one day, though I know that is doubtful." Sesshomaru looked down at her questioningly.

"In all my years, Lady Izayoi, I have never quite figured you out," he said quietly, nodding his head appreciatively.

"I have not relinquished my promise; I will be watching Inuyasha, in my own ways." The woman smiled warmly, releasing Sesshomaru's hand.

Inuyasha frowned as he stood with Kagome beside Inu-no-Taishou, watching his mother and Sesshomaru converse. His heart ached. The longest he'd ever been away from his brother was a four days, when he was around sixty years old, and he'd cried the whole time, and then some more when he'd come back. He'd _never _been away from Sesshomaru long, and yet here he was, commanding that he leave. And that feeling, that throbbing pain more potent that love resounded in his heart with each beat – the treachery. He could never forgive him. It was better to see him gone and miss him, than allow him to stay and see the monster he'd become…

Remembering his parents didn't _really _know why Sesshomaru was leaving; Inuyasha moved forwards slowly, attempting to convince them nothing was wrong. At least that's what he told himself. An unconscious part of his mind took the moment that he threw his arms round his brotherly very unceremoniously, to say goodbye.

"Look after yourself, and…stay alive…" the half-demon raised his head to look into his brother's eyes, his own bearing such misery there was no doubt he was already regretting his decision, no matter how he tried to rationalise it, _"…bastard…_" he muttered under his breath. Sesshomaru patted his head condescendingly…or, affectionately?

Drawing away from him, he stepped back to his father's side, watching as his older brother – _no, the man that __**used **__to be my older brother_, his mind corrected, as Sesshomaru walked away. Inuyasha didn't even register the other demon lords and ladies he was supposed to be thanking and saying goodbye to, accept to watch them mingle with his brother in the small trail of demons departing the castle.

When Sesshomaru had finally disappeared, Inuyasha was ripped from his thoughts by the slimy, crawling voice that slithered into his ears.

"I expect you will miss him greatly, Lord Inuyasha," Lord Eisuke muttered, bowing _courteously_, "whatever will you do now your brother and protector has left you to fend for yourself?" Inuyasha sneered.

"I will miss my brother, and protect myself," he responded coolly, pulling his arm round Kagome's waist subtly, "and my family."

"Indeed," Eisuke nodded, bowing in turn to the people beside him. "We'll be passing through often Lord Inu-no-Taishou, the others may be departing along with us now the mating ceremony is over but you can rest assured, we'll be back." Kagome smiled falsely, bowing only a little, _not _looking forward to his return or that skulking son of his, _Satoru_ either. "Maybe we'll even catch some glimpses of your wonderful grandchild soon." Kagome shuddered at his words, yanking her hand from the demon's grip. He smiled, returning the falseness with his that was in her own, before he departed, taking his followers with him.

"I didn't like the way he said that," Kagome whispered in Inuyasha's ear, "I'm glad he's gone. I only wish he wouldn't come back…Inuyasha?" She looked up, sure Inuyasha had heard her words, but frowning sadly at the single tear that crept down his cheek. He'd only just registered the fact. Sesshomaru was gone…forever…

TBC

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A/N: *Dodges flying fruit* I'm gunna be hit for that misery aren't I? *sobs* Jesus-McFudge! This chapter was wicked hard to write, I stopped and started again about 8 different times. All the words just didn't seem to come out the way I wanted them to. This didn't flow at all, and I swear it shows. This one wasnt very long either, so I apologise for that. Next chappie will hopefully be much better. Please leave me a review so I know you haven't given up on me. Thankies!

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	14. 14 Twisted Premonitions

Author's note:

Ne, Guys, I was watching my inuyasha dvds whilst writing this chappie, and that episode with that girl Koharu, the one Miroku asked to marry when she was 11 XD Also the ep where Kanna first appears (ep 41) I was just watching the bit where Inuyasha is sympathic to that girl *hugs him* it's so cute when he's nice XD. Neways, sorry for the delay, I was shocked at how many reviews I got for the last chapter, and for those of you upset that Sesshomaru is gone, he isn't gone from the fic forever, don't worry ^_^

**There is a lemon in this chapter, here, but for those of you who dont like that, the appropriate warnings are in it, allowing you to skip it, and you can enjoy the chappie without having to read it if you dont want to K?**

**Oh, and also,as I said, I'm writing this at stupid hours of the morning, and my eyelids are actually **_**aching **_**I need sleep so much, but I have to start getting ready to catch the bus to college in an hour and a half so, no sleep for me! *crams coffee down throat* I'm gunna proof-read when I get there, (whilst attacking the common-room's coffee stash XD) But because I'm so tired proof-reading wont be up to scratch, so I apologise for any rogue spelling/grammar errors etc. I will go back and edit it at a later time. K? ^_^**

Dedicated to wonderful reviewers!

Enjoy the chapter! Oh, yeah, and review wonderful readers!

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Twisted Premonitions

Fifteen

"_How can you so easily toss me aside?" Inuyasha shuddered at that voice, the voice of his older brother, so laden with disappointment. "After everything I have done for you…cared for you…__**loved **__you when no other would…and you cast me aside…?" Inuyasha clamped his eyes shut against his brother's painful words, all the more vicious and cutting all the deeper, for he knew how truthful they were…_

"_What about __**you**__?" __**You're **__the one that cast __**me **__aside first! You threw aside the alleged 'love' for your brother when you stained yourself with human blood!" Sesshomaru didn't turn to face his brother, his golden eyes remained fixated on the blazing red moon and the crimson sky. _

"_You will learn…Inuyasha, that not everything is what it seems…" Inuyasha frowned, approaching his brother slowly._

"_What?" A clawed hand rose skittishly to his older brother's shoulder, "what do you-" Inuyasha gasped, cutting off as Sesshomaru turned swiftly, seizing his wrist sharply, razor claws penetrating the flesh on his wrist, biting spitefully into him, as poison sizzled menacingly into his blood. _

"_Sometimes you have to look beyond what stands before you, and see what lies beneath!" Inuyasha screamed, trying desperately to tear his slowly crumbling hand from his brother's grip, failing miserably. Tears of agony pricked the backs of his eyes, his whole _body _twisting to get away. But Sesshomaru's grasp was inescapable._

"_WHAT ARE YOU __**TALKING**__ ABOUT?! I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE __**SAYING**__!!!"_

"_**Look**__," Sesshomaru ordered, throwing his brother away from him viciously, sending him hurtling to the ground. _

_Wincing in torturous agony, Inuyasha cradled his abused wrist to his heaving chest. '_Look'? Look at **what**? _Inuyasha wondered, eyes opening from their grimace to gaze upon the blackened grass beneath his bare feet. _

_Suddenly, a shrill, piercing cry throbbed in his ears – a sound he'd never heard before, and yet it seemed…_familiar_? Raising his head unsteadily, still shaken by the poison pulsing swiftly through his veins, slowly taking him over… Eyes widened in horror at what they saw…_

_Kagome. He wasn't sure if it was her, her pale, almost lifeless flesh glowing with an ethereal light beneath the crimson blood staining her form, head tipped back and mouth open in silent agony. Inuyasha scrambled to his feet clumsily, his limbs slowly falling prey to the disorientating numbing sensation the poison was spreading through him. He felt his knees buckle beneath him, claws wrenching deep into the dead earth below, dragging himself towards her. Fangs grated against each other, biting back the desperate cry of pain that threatened to tear free from his throat, as he forced himself into a sitting position, pulling his beloved's silently agonised form to him._

_Her raven head rested in the crook of his arm, her expression never faltering. She didn't even respond. "Kagome? Kagome? __**Kagome**__?!" _

"_You have to look beyond what you see…" The half-demon flinched at his brother's cool words flowing into his ears, his warm breath steaming onto the side of his face as the older demon knelt beside him. That shrill, unbearably heart-rending cry sounded again, and Inuyasha raised his eyes once more. _

_A small, wriggling, __**screaming **__form beckoned him, but he could not move. A dark shadow enclosed its malicious grasp around that helpless, __**terrified **__body, practically smirking at his inability to help it…his child… _

"_L-Let…" Inuyasha ground his fangs into his lower lip defiantly as his words failed him, "Let __**go **__of that baby…" The arrogant wickedness of the shadow slowly swallowing up the form of the baby increased, and Inuyasha turned his head to gaze upon his brother. "Sesshomaru – __**do **__something!" The full demon shook his head lightly, leaning in to his brother's ears._

"_An unseen enemy is the poison that will stick in your blood… A mistake is the loss of something precious… Not always can you find what you are looking for, sometimes you have to know what to see…" Again that strangled sob, calling for him, its father to wretch it from that evil, lingering darkness' grasp, the cry growing louder, louder, filling him up from the inside out, until he felt __**suffocated **__by that deafening echo…_

***

Inuyasha shot up, the terrified cries still ringing desperately in his ears. Heart thumping wildly in his chest, Inuyasha gasped for breath, his skin still tingling from the numbness of his dream, and the pressing weight of that child's howls of fear. _Gods, _he thought hazily. It had felt so…so _real_… In a past as packed full of horrors as his was, he _knew _a nightmare when he experienced one, but _this _one… _This was different, _his mind supplied, clawed hand running through the sweat-soaked hair that clung to his forehead, closing his eyes against the dimness of his and Kagome's bed-chambers. He could still feel the pain, hear that baby, see that baby – _his _baby, and Kagome… _Kagome…_

Tilting his head slightly to the side, his forehead still resting against his hand (which was in turn propped up by his knee) his golden gaze fell upon the sleeping beauty curled lightly against his side, her slender arms curved round her heavily pregnant stomach, swollen breasts rising and falling with her gentle breathing – she was still fast asleep.

_That was horrible, _he thought, still looking upon the girl he loved more than anything, _I've never – __**ever **__felt so bad in my life…and what did it __**mean **__anyway? Sesshomaru… _His thoughts trailed off there. It hurt too much to think of his older brother. It had seemed so hard to send him away; even if it was the best decision – for _both _of them, but he'd been wrong…it was _worse_. Suddenly the one he trusted with _everything_, not just his brother but best and _only _friend was gone. Not so much as a word had been sent from or about Sesshomaru since he'd left the castle grounds two months ago. He'd figured Sesshomaru might at least send word for their recently over-anxious father's benefit, but no…not one letter… Could it be that something had happened to him? Something bad? It wasn't the first nor last time _that _particular fear had entered his mind.

It wasn't anything new. In all truthfulness, the half-demon had been worrying a lot lately. Between the sudden suspicious decrease in attacks by the Revolutionaries, his Kagome's unpredictable pregnancy (and not to mention and unpredictable Kagome), _those _worries had him on the verge of a _melt-down_! And then there was his worrying father, who'd lost so much of his old self, now so very quiet, and withdrawn, always thoughtful, always alert of late… It scared him. He knew it was natural to be afraid of all the blessings and horrors life was throwing at him, but he couldn't help but feel just that _little _bit more scared that perhaps he should have been…

Still, what did Sesshomaru – 'Dream Sesshomaru' mean?

"_You will learn…Inuyasha, that not everything is what it seems… Sometimes you have to look beyond what stands before you, and see what lies beneath…_ _An unseen enemy is the poison that will stick in your blood… A mistake is the loss of something precious… Not always can you find what you are looking for, sometimes you have to know what to see…"_

Those words made no _sense_! _Not like Sesshomaru himself made any sense though, _Inuyasha's mind interjected. A soft, slightly mournful sigh passed his lips. He never thought he'd miss him this much…

"Inuyasha?" The half-demon slipped from his thoughts, back into the room, where his mate lay beside him, now gazing up at him through though dark, unfathomable eyes he loved so much. "Are you alright?" She rose slightly onto her elbows to look at him better, the sheets shuddering down the sleek skin of her shoulders. Inuyasha smiled comfortingly at her, clawed fingers risking into obsidian hair, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, before drawing the sheets back over her shoulders once more, less by means of preserving the modesty of her naked torso, and more to keep her from catching anymore of those 'chills' she seemed to be more susceptible to lately.

"I'm fine; really…just…bad dream is all…" She looked a little disbelieving, still gazing at him expectantly, though he didn't continue.

His hand stole forward, grazing the backs of his claws tenderly over the swell of her stomach, and their baby. _Pup, _he corrected himself. "How's everything going in there?" he asked huskily, suddenly feeling very affectionate towards her, perhaps an after-effect of seeing her in such a state in his dream? A small, tired smile graced her practically glowing face, resting her head against his shoulder gently.

"Busy," she answered quietly, closing her eyes, simply relishing in the feel of him being so close.

Izayoi had explained fairly early on, that like in dogs, (all down to instincts) she would be quieter, and want more attention, particularly from Inuyasha. That had been easy enough to hear, but as the days past further into her pregnancy, and Izayoi's predictions came true, Kagome seemed to lose her rational mind, her base instincts as a mother, and instincts as a mother to a half-dog-demon completely overthrowing her.

Poor Inuyasha, that's what she'd thought on so much _more _than one occasion. He'd suffered her (often very violent) mood-swings (which still had yet to cease) and at times her desperate desire for his attention, as well as he sulking when she couldn't get it. Still, he hadn't complained, or even lost his temper – not _once_. _In all truth, _the once-priestess thought with a smile, sighing softly, _Inuyasha's spoilt me for two months straight! _

"I think it's safe to say there's not much more room in there," he teased gently, smirking at the little kick he got in return for his smooth caresses.

"Yeah, geez," she replied, half growling, turning strenuously onto her back, hands coming to rest over her stomach. "It can't be much longer, right? I mean, I know I should be grateful, my pregnancy is only going to last around fifty-or-so days, right?" She frowned as he let out a little laugh. Nuzzling her apologetically at seeing her expression, he stifled the diminutive chuckle.

"Sorry, it just doesn't sound so long when you number it in days," she raised a brow at him, obviously not finding it funny.

"See how hilarious it is carrying the weight of a half-demon pup around all the time…you think the mood-swings are bad on you? Try _being_ the moody bitch that everyone hates." Letting another little laugh escape him, he brushed a sloppy kiss down the side of her neck.

"Nobody hates you, _idiot_," he reassured her with an underlying reprimanding tone. "And you're hardly a 'moody bitch' that's a little harsh, don't you think?"

Kagome sighed again, opening her eyes, staring blankly up at the dark canopy over the bed.

"I know…I just…I feel so bad…you, your mother, and father, and Sango and the others – heck even the servants are treating me like some…some kind of _princess _and all I can do is-" Her words cut off, swallowed by the slightly parted lips pressed against her own. Breaking the kiss to look into those eyes, the half-demon wet his lips slowly, taking in her taste as he did so.

"Don't worry over such little things…I know it's not your fault – all these hormones and all, but just remember, any time now you're gonna be able to see our pup." His mate smiled slightly at his words, "that's gotta be overshadow everything else, right?" The girl gave a small, barely noticeable nod, a light blush dusting her cheeks at her suddenly lustful thoughts that erupted into her head.

Sensing the rapid change in Kagome's scent, Inuyasha quirked a brow at her, eyeing her with playful suspicion, which only caused her blush to deepen. The arousal coming off her in waves, the half-demon smirked impertinently at her. "Is that the smell of _desire, _Mate?" he practically purred, arms resting either side of her, crawling over her body slowly, causing her to tumble onto her back slowly. Crimson lust crept into his eyes, though not completely overthrowing that golden beauty within them that she loved so much. Something about that voice, when it was seductively provocative, it sent delicious shivers down her spine.

"Inuyasha…don't-" she was cut off as his clawed hand snatched her wrists, pressing them over her head slowly, tenderly, never forceful, never vicious. A little growl purred at the back of his throat, his mouth descending to her perfectly curved human ears, risking a swift lick.

**_- -------- Lemon starts here, skip to next warning --------- -_**

"'_Don't' _what, Kagome?" She whimpered as the moist appendage delved slickly over the shell of her ear, dampening the delicate flesh, venturing down to capture the lobe between his fangs gently. "That damn monk is rubbing off in ya… You're a little pervert Kagome…"

Shuddering at that tone again, Kagome's head tossed to the side to stifle her gasp in the sheets, as the half-demon's free hand that wasn't 'trapping' her wrists running loosely over her collarbone, brushing butterfly touches over the sides her swollen breasts with the backs of his claws.

"You can talk…at least _I'm _not the one with the erection…" he growled playfully at the teasing tone of her voice, leaning down to run a swift lick up her cheek. Giggling at the movement, Kagome traced her fingers over the muscles of his shoulders, pulling him down gently to touch recently freed noses with him. Fleeting kisses racing from passionate to chaste, and back again, ever-varying. He was always the same, gentle but fervent, placid but untamed, kisses often punctuated with little growls and purrs, the sinful vibrations against her flesh making her skin practically _hum_.

A clawed thumb brushed over her lips, parting them gently, before diving against her mouth for another, searing kiss, his weight held off her cautiously, though his stomach still pressed against hers, smiling at the sharp kick he received from his pup.

"Quiet you," he smirked at the large bulge, hands stroking it gently, as his mouth descended down his lover's sternum. "Mama and Papa are busy…"

In all honesty, since their pup's conception, there had only been a few scarce times that they'd ventured into full intercourse, with all the disasters throwing themselves at them from all angles, as well as the lurking scars of what Kagome had suffered at Katsura's hands, engraining caution into their relationship when it came to intimacy. Kagome didn't want to disappoint him, and Inuyasha didn't want to hurt her. Aside from this, was the most obvious, she was pregnant. It wasn't that they couldn't have sex _specifically _for that reason, since they weren't naïve enough to believe _that_, however it was best explained by Kagome, on one of her first hormonal outbreaks, where Inuyasha had _tried _just that little bit too hard for some form of intimacy with his mate to sate his rapidly increasing thirst, only to be scorned for his attempts, being called _"insensitive" _and _"pushy"_ – even though she regretted it afterwards, venturing for those words which, _then_, weren't half as funny as he saw them now. _"How do you _think _I feel? This pup doesn't stop fidgeting, then we start up, which wakes it up – it's not exactly fun to have it wiggling round inside me as _well _as you!" _Yes, that was pretty laughable looking back, but his past neglected needs didn't find it amusing at all.

Still it wasn't as if they hadn't had sex, they managed to offer each other simple favours, and occasionally (and mostly more recently) Kagome's hormones would take a totally _different _and much more likeable approach – _desire_… Maybe it was because the pup was ready to be born soon, and her instincts were trying to get him to induce her labour, either way, he wasn't complaining, he hadn't been allowed free-reign over her like this for such a long time, his muscles, his bones, his very _soul _was aching with an insatiable need…

"Geez, Inuyasha!" she gasped breathily, fingers knotting into his hair as that devious pink tongue darted out to curl deftly around a darkened, erect peak of her breast, only venturing to lathe her nipples with his tongue once, knowing they were already tender owing to her condition. Tracing swiftly over to tease her navel (which had at some point flipped inside-out) with the slightly pointed tip of his tongue, Inuyasha smirked against her quivering flesh as her back arched like a bowstring off the bed.

The beautiful scent of her fruitful body combined with the intoxicating aroma of her arousal smothered his senses, ears flicked back against his skull as a flush raced over the bridge of his nose. Drunk on her smell, Inuyasha stared mischievously down at the apex of her thighs, his devious mouth teasing the light crease where her leg met her hips, body twisting accommodatingly to allow him to wrap his arms round her thighs, spreading them in one swift movement, so that his the backs of her calf-muscles were resting against his shoulders, his hands resting in the obsidian curls surrounding her womanhood.

She sucked in air harshly as his breath steamed over a _very _inappropriate part of her. Inuyasha had seen her naked before, so what? It was still just that little bit embarrassing, not to mention _awkward _at having someone with their face resting a scarce half-and-inch away from her crotch. "Inuyasha…" she groaned, her threatening tone swallowed up by embarrassed longing. He raised his wayward gaze to stare up at what her, leaning back on her shoulders so he could still see her over the bulge that was their baby.

"Don't you _'Inuyasha' _me, wench," he growled huskily, fingertips petting her curls gently, before risking slow, agonisingly teasing touches down her moist folds, (slightly more swollen than usual because of her pregnancy, but only just noticeable, in any case, it didn't matter to him).

"Oh, _Gods_…" His naughty smirk broadened.

"God ain't got nothing to do with it." That growl was present again, a little of his demon-side's tone leaking into those words, the blood in her veins racing just that little bit faster as a result.

Parting her core slowly (careful of his claws) Inuyasha drank in the deliciously provocative cry that tore from her lips, glancing swiftly up at her to watch her chomping down at her fingers to silence herself, as he brushed his thumb over her hooded-jewel to brush his mouth over her exposed nub. A small whimper sounded clearly that time, no matter how she tried to muffle her voice, it still rang clear in his ears making them perk subtly. "I-Inu-yash-ah…!" He drank in her shuddering groans like sake, pulling back to just barely touch her swollen clit, exciting her juices to seep out of her. Delving down and into her slit, Inuyasha groaned at the hotness, curling his tongue inside the velvet heat to take all of her in.

The almost painfully aroused half-demon could barely hear her strangled whines of tortured bliss over the blood thumping in his ears, her fingers abandoning their fruitless efforts at silencing herself in favour of reaching down to touch his ears, the only part of him she could reach. Flinching at the original manoeuvre, but only in reflex, Inuyasha's resonating purr vibrated against her moist flesh, as slender, ever-gentle fingertips ventured a smooth touch of the pink-underside before rubbing the white appendages in slow gyrations. _It feels so good…_

He groaned against her again, finishing his teasing with a final lick before raising himself shakily back up onto his haunches, gazing lustfully down at her, noting that embarrassed blush at seeing the evidence of her own arousal on his lips, savouring both the moment and the musky taste by licking his lips suggestively. She swallowed hard, closing her eyes briefly at the evident throbbing in her core, reminding her that she was still empty, and still hungry for more. _But first..._

Inuyasha yelped in shock, spiralling back down from his state of unaware, the place of white-liquid-fire, where he'd been trying to calm himself down so he wouldn't relinquish control of the matter to his slightly more feral demon side, his eyebrows shot into his hairline at looking down to see her gripping him unskilfully. Yes, they'd had sex before, _obviously_, he'd touched, she'd touched, but she hadn't ever done… He'd never wanted to push, it wasn't a necessity, after all, wasn't it her being _forced _to do this which had damaged her so much in the first place? A shudder of delicious apprehension at what he _knew _she was finally offering shot down his spine.

Cracking open an eye he didn't remember closing, Inuyasha glanced down at her with a look that obviously made her nervous. "I'm sorry," she apologised, "am I…er…am I doing it wrong already?" His eyes widened.

"No, No, it's not that I…I just wanted to make sure you were…alright…" it sounded lame when he said it aloud, but that _was _what he meant.

"Oh…" she muttered quietly, her once forgotten shyness seeping back into her voice, "just umm…tell me if I get something wrong…" He smiled down at her; not managing to tear his eyes away as her fingers squeezed him gently, running up and down the shaft. _This _much she had done before, but never…_with her mouth, _his mind supplied, managing to find a slightly less _dirty _way to phrase it.

As slim fingers traced his throbbing organ gently, he hissed in pleasure as she came to its peak, fingers pinching ever-so-gently at his tip, foreskin rolling back down his erection. The half-demon's head leant back slightly. It felt so good – screw that it felt so good he felt like he was going to _melt _right there…

"G-Geez, K-Kagome…" she glanced up at him, that blush colouring her cheeks again, his hand tightened into fists at his side, claws biting into his palms, but he didn't care, she just looked so – so damn _hot _at that moment he nearly lost control! Leaning in skittishly to the newly exposed pink tip, Kagome's tongue darted out shyly to touch to quivering flesh. "Ah! G-Gods…K-Ka-ah…!" She pulled back to look up at him, flushing a little darker at that tormented bliss engraved in that dazzling look on her mate's face. Taking it as his sign of approval, she shuffled a little closer to him, flicking her tongue out to gather the musky-salt taste from his slit. "K-Kagome…damn…y-you're…" Smirking at his incoherence, the once-priestess stroked his foreskin up his shaft, and back again, exposing the pinkness all over again, repeating the torturous process several times, before diving over him unexpectedly, sucking the tip into her moist mouth.

That familiar shudder shook him, his hips fighting to arc into her mouth, though he managed to hold back, not wanting to _choke _her. An agonised whimper tore free, is head tossing slightly in confusion as to what to do with himself, as her fingers massaged his sac gently, smoothing over his flesh in slow, deft touches. He felt those crimson flecks creeping back into his eyes again, he needed to stop this – stop her from what she was doing or he'd lose it before he got to finish this _properly_.

"W-Wha-Wait, Kagome stop," she pulled back with a wet noise, gazing up at him confusedly.

"Is something wrong?" He shook his head, gasping for breath, unable to speak at that moment, pre-emission dribbling down his member as if to prove his inability to form words at this moment. But he didn't need words, didn't need to tell her what it was he wanted, because she wanted it too. Leaning backwards slowly, resting her back on the bed, she rolled onto her side, beckoning him forwards with the uncharacteristic flair of some demonic seductress. Nevertheless, it enthralled him, drawing him over her, clawed hands moving to part her legs, not forgetting to rub the pad of his thumb over the mating mark on her thigh, before roaming up over the swell of her stomach once more, calming the shifting pup that at that moment had decided to make its presence known to its mother, and rather painfully.

"Listen, you little git," he murmured softly to it, causing Kagome to smirk, rolling her eyes, "you calm down in there, or there'll be issues with spanking when you get out here…" As if the active little unborn pup had understood it stilled, leaving Kagome in thankful awe, only stirring from her state when she felt that familiar heat sliding between her slick folds.

A little groan rumbled in _her _throat this time, that oddly full sensation throbbing in her core again, her whole body practically singing in response to the fulfilled feeling. The numbing pain didn't remotely appear, not anymore, her womanhood adjusting to her mate's size, that stretching nothing but erotic as both he and she felt her muscles clenching and tugging at the flesh of the engorged organ.

That sinfully slow rhythm started somewhere, throbbing with the urgent need to race towards completion. Rolling completely onto her back, Kagome's thighs rose against her will, clinging to his hips tightly, pulling him down to mesh her lips with his in a demanding kiss, her once shy tongue beckoning him into her mouth, sliding over, stroking his only too willing appendage, arms wrapping around his neck in a desperate embrace, that movement within her nether-regions quickening.

Her breasts bounced a little with his thrusting, her hips rising to meet his as she watched her half-demon close his eyes against the dimness of the room, his fangs biting into his lip in a careless attempt to silence himself as her heat swallowed his once more, spilling himself inside her. At that well-known experience of having him fill her completely, utterly, in every way, she ground the back of her head against the pillows, fingers releasing his neck in favour of knotting into the sheets, as she joined him in the white-hot sensation of climax.

_**- ------------ IF YOU AREN'T READING THE LEMON IT'S SAFE TO READ AGAIN NOW, IF YOU DID READ DESPITE MY WARNING AND ARE DISGUSTED, PLEASE DON'T BLAME ME ----------- -  
**_

Has, broken breaths beat against each other's flesh, as they spiralled back down from their intimate oblivion, the coloured lights still flickering in their vision. "D-Did it work?" he asked huskily, glancing down at her, wiping the sweat from her brow tenderly. Feeling her pup kick insistently, as if asking if it was okay to move now, the human shook her head exhaustedly, smiling back up at him as he rolled off her, curling against her on the now soiled sheets.

"No…but it was fun, right?" he smirked, pressing a weak kiss against the side of her neck.

"Yeah…besides, you don't mind too much, that it didn't start your labour, do you?" she laughed softly, resting her cheek on his chest, listening to the dull thump of his heart-beat in his rapidly rising and falling chest.

"Of course not…it's uncomfortable…but, nothing begins to compare to the feeling of…having this whole other life inside of you…besides…" he met her eyes again, smiling and the affection glowing warmly within hazel orbs. "I don't mind having an excuse to have you with me pretty much all the time…"

"Keh, soppy woman," he teased, hearing her sigh exhaustedly, eyelashes fluttering as the drowsiness began to overtake her.

Stroking his mate's hair absently, the half-demon stared blankly up at the canopy of the bed once more. Both their breathing steadied, exhaustion fighting to drag them into slumber, and he felt his eyelids drooping. _I wonder what he's doing; _he pondered absently, his mind wandering back to his brother. _If only he'd send word…just one __**word **__that he was alive…I __**hate **__this – the not knowing, it's…it's just…_

"You miss him, don't you?" Inuyasha's gaze snapped back to his mate at her words, finding her staring at him. How did she always seem to know what he was thinking when he was anxious like this?

"Yeah…I suppose…"

"I'm sure," she began hesitantly, touching his chest, comforting him, "that whatever happened, with Sesshomaru and _whoever _it was that he killed, that he was within reason…" Inuyasha snorted.

"That's not it. He drew human blood, he betrayed me…and I don't care…" She blinked in confusion. "I don't care anymore…if he turned up on the doorstep _tomorrow _I'd be willing to forget it all…if I could just have my brother back…"

A tortured, anguished growl tore from his throat. "_Why _did he have to be so – so _stupid_?! He spoilt _everything_! I…I just…" The half-demon's voice trailed off, ears drooping slightly as his lover's tender hand touched his cheek gently, turning his face so that sympathetic hazel could meet heart-rending gold.

"He'll be back, don't worry."

"How can you be so-" the delicate finger over his lips silenced him.

"I _know_, okay?" she replied softly, placing a kiss to his lips as if to punctuate the point. "I know… Besides, he'll want to see his niece or nephew, right?" Inuyasha smiled dully at that, wrapping his pregnant mate tight in his embrace, nuzzling gently into her obsidian hair, smelling her scent lightly.

"Yeah…I suppose he will…" he agreed almost inaudibly, still holding no true belief within his words.

TBC

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A/N: Geez, I am SO tired, writing this Wicked late at night, I stayed up all night to get it finished for today so i could update. BTW, you know what Kagome said _"How do you _think _I feel? This pup doesn't stop fidgeting, then we start up, which wakes it up – it's not exactly fun to have it wiggling round inside me as _well _as you!" _One of my older sisters said that on her 2nd pregnancy, (and geez that kid was a heavy baby) but anyways, we pretty much have a very open family, and she kept told us about one time when her fiance wanted to have sex and she didnt, and she said those words. Geez, it was too funny not to add XD tis chappie was used for

(1) the sorta dream/prophecy to foreshadow whats to come.

(2) to ease you guys into the like 8 week time jump

(3) to have some nice fluffy lemon to make up for past and future angst lol.

We'll see everyone else in the next chapter, K? Hope ya liked the chappie, and yes, Sesshomaru will return soon, dnt worry *offers you all Sesshomaru cookies* dont cry! *hugs* neways, gotta go, I need more coffee from the common room (yes, I'm at college now, I finished it here. See what I go through to make you people happy XD love ya all! *hugs you all again*) See ya! and remember to review wondeful people .

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	15. 15 Surrealism of a Bitter Fate

Surrealism Of A Bitter Fate

Sixteen

"YOUCH!" Kagome squealed suddenly, making Izayoi jump. The once-priestess scowled angrily at the embroidery she'd been attempting, sucking her now bleeding finger into her mouth, the needle responsible for pricking her finger mocking her with the thin trail of blood glistening on the point. "Son-of-a-"

"-It's alright, Kagome," Izayoi said soothingly and patting her knee. Wiping the blood clean off the needle before it had chance to stain the material, the woman smiled warmly at her son's mate. "You're getting better, it's just because you're tired, that is all." Kagome frowned, her finger still in her mouth sulkily.

"How can I still be tired? Its not even lunch time yet? Am I doing something wrong, Izayoi?" The said woman shook her head lightly.

"Of course not, every pregnant woman is more exhausted than usual – part-demon baby or no. You may be resting but your body is at work all the time trying to prepare this little life for the time it chooses to come out." Kagome rolled her eyes, sighing softly as she ran her hand over her largely swollen stomach.

"Hopefully that time is sooner rather than later, _geez _I'm so fat I can hardly _walk _anymore." The obsidian-haired-girl tipped her head back with an exhausted sigh. "I can't even find a comfortable position to sleep in anymore, and when I do the little demon decides _it _doesn't like that position, and starts kicking – and not just, _hey there get some food down here _kicking, it's full on – _turn your ass over or I'll bounce on your bladder so you pee yourself _kicking."

A little confused frown reached Kagome's features as Izayoi burst into sympathetic laughter, rubbing the girl's back affectionately.

"I apologise, Kagome, you just reminded me so much of Inuyasha at that moment it was untrue." The girl's frown ebbed away into a small smirk.

"I guess he's starting to rub off on me, huh?" The lady of the west offered her that usual, warming smile, dark eyes gazing thoughtfully at nothing in particular.

"Truly," she said at last, breaking the stagnant silence between the two women, "I think it will be soon, I'm not sure why but…I can sense these things… Perhaps it would not seem as long if you turned your attention towards other things." Kagome scoffed at the notion, setting her sewing down to the side, giving up on it for now.

"Yeah, like finding ways of keeping our _'welcome guests'_ the _hell _away from me," Izayoi turned her worldly gaze to her _daughter_, understanding overthrowing her features.

"It was the same as when I carried Inuyasha," she divulged quietly, "Inu-no-Taishou believed it was merely overblown suspicion because of the instincts aroused by my pregnancy, and indeed, he believes this so in your case as well, however…"

"That's not it," Kagome finished for her. "I just…I don't like them. Eisuke with his insincere smiles and false chivalry…he and Satoru, they come _near_ me and I can feel…I can…it's stupid…"A supportive hand rested on her shoulder, urging her to continue. "It feels like…I can feel the baby – pup, trying to warn me… And they keep touching my stomach, and it feels _wrong_. I can't explain it."

"You do not have to," Izayoi assured her.

"Inuyasha doesn't like it either, he doesn't trust them – _I _don't trust them. Lord Inu-no-Taishou, he's a kind and honourable ruler, and I know he keeps giving surety that Eisuke is our ally but…that's not it…he's just…not a good man, that's all."

"You are wary of him," Izayoi answered, her words more of a statement than a question. The girl nodded.

"It's not a crime, Kagome, to be afraid, or to mistrust someone… It's difficult, being a mortal woman in a demon society – no one accepts us, they believe us to be the downfall of our demon mates, their _mistakes_. Because they believe us inferior to them, when in reality…we're all equal, demons, half-demons, humans, we're all the same…we breathe, we bleed, we cry…we love… The only thing that separates us is those who have the misconception that _anyone _is better than anyone else. And _they _are the ones that are tainted…not the half-demons or humans who cant help what they're born as, demons are born into this world with certain advantages to everybody else, but it doesn't make them better than everybody else, the only weaklings are the ones that allow that ridiculous notion to cloud their judgement… In humans, even the frailest child can become the fiercest warrior within moments if something they treasure is threatened. Every _species _has their downfalls and redeeming qualities, just like people… All different and yet at the same time, so very similar… Kagome?" The woman turned, sighing with a smile at the girl that had fallen asleep at her side. "You weren't even listening," she laughed softly, affectionately. _I guess the pregnancy has her more exhausted than she thought…_

"If it's any constellation, I was listening," Izayoi looked up to see her son approaching, smirking cheerily at her.

"It's alright," his mother responded with a slight laugh. "It might seem tiring, but becoming a parent is the most wonderful thing in the world. Just wait until you hold it for the first time, all that anxiety and stressfulness will just fall away." Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, until the little _squit _opens its mouth and screams blue-murder…"

"Eloquently put, as always, Little brother." The half-demon spun on his heel so quick he nearly stumbled in the process, golden eyes widening in a mix of horror and joy at the figure standing beneath the arbour. "Haven't you even a tender embrace for your older brother?"

Inuyasha was stunned, rooted to the spot by the sheer shock of it. Perhaps it was because a larger part of him believed his brother gone for good – one way or another, but his mind, it just couldn't register the fact, it just seemed so…_surreal_…

"Se-Sesshomaru?"

TBC

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A/N: Okay, yeah, not long at all, in fact it was a pitiful excuse for a chapter, but sowwy, I didnt have time *sobs* I will promise the next chapter will be longer, and we'll have some more action in, but hey, at least Sesshy's back! Yay! Hope you liked, even through the shortness 0_0

Love

Shigure-san

X chuu X


	16. 16 Fated Betrayal, Swarms Of Death

Author's Note:

This one is WAY longer than the last, and even has a little action in, so I hope this chappie was worth the wait.

**PLEASE READ: I didn't have time to proof-read this, so sorry, but its nice and long so I hope that will make up for it. I will go back and edit things at a later time ^_^**

Thanks again, please enjoy and review .

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Fated Betrayal, Swarms Of Death

Sixteen

Inuyasha, for that moment felt his heart stop. His insides froze in response to that voice, to those words. _Sesshomaru_, his mind prompted him, after all these months of not hearing a voice that, up until then, had been a constant comfort, always at his side. _Sesshomaru is back…?_

Inuyasha just stood there dumbly, half of him wanting to obey the urge to dart forwards and crush his brother in an awkward embrace, whilst the other half…

"It would seem you're not happy you see your older brother," Sesshomaru admonished complacently, his face and cool demeanour unchanged, even after all this time. Inuyasha still didn't respond. Izayoi shifted uncomfortably, subtly patting Kagome's shoulder, urging the girl to awaken.

The girl's eyelids fluttered open, hazy vision blurring with sleep, until hazel orbs focused on crisp whiteness. Bolting upright, Kagome nearly scared Izayoi out of her skin as she did so, gazing confusedly at her mate and his older brother, as if doubting whether she was still asleep or not. "Lord Sesshomaru?" she asked disbelievingly. He faced her politely, an _almost-smile_ gracing his features. "You're back!" she exclaimed happily, jumping to her feet and approaching him, rather agilely given her _condition_. "You were gone for so long, and you never sent word. Inuyasha and everyone were really worried about you." Inuyasha shot her a look, but she ignored it, leaving Sesshomaru to glance at his little brother.

"Indeed, though it doesn't seem as if you're exactly _rejoicing_, could it be you wish me to leave again, Little brother?" Inuyasha's eyes widened then, betraying his inner fear of that very notion.

"Don't…Don't be so…" The half-demon growled quietly in irritation, "Of _course _I don't _want _you to leave it's just…" He met Sesshomaru's eyes then, determination within them. "I just hope you haven't forgotten on what terms we parted last." Sesshomaru smirked.

"I have not forgotten."

The heir to the Western lands allowed that statement to permeate the sudden silence around them for a moment, staring understandingly into his brother's eyes. Regardless of Inuyasha's feelings, _Sesshomaru_ had missed, and worried about his brother, although, that anxiety and need to make sure the half-demon was okay, was not what had summoned him back to his home. "I must go see Father," Sesshomaru stated finally, manoeuvring past his brother, "we can talk later, Inuyasha." The half-demon sneered, spinning on his heel to face his brother.

"Stop right there Sesshomaru!" The demon paused, though did not turn.

"I don't know what the _hell _you're doing here, but the deal was that you leave – and you're back."

_What am I __**saying**__? _Inuyasha asked himself, his mouth still moving, spiteful words passing his lips, out of his control. The bitterness of this betrayal was just…just too much to bear! He couldn't stand it! When all he wanted was his brother back, back the way he was _before _all this had happened, before his brother had at some point become someone completely different to the person who'd watched over him for all these years…

Angry tears pricked the backs of his eyes, and he blinked them away furiously, advancing on his brother. "Get the hell outta here!" The forwards swipe shot at him, the demon catching the angry assault of his brother's claws, but only just, seizing the wrist of that hand swiftly.

"I do not have time for this, Inuyasha, I must-"

"-_What?! _Don't have time for the little brother you viciously _betrayed_?!" The other hand shot forwards, slicing through Sesshomaru's clothing and into the flesh of his chest beneath. Blood stained the half-demon's claws as he drew back, Sesshomaru snatching his other wrist in his grasp, leaving Inuyasha unable to attack. That body twisted in pure fury, trying to lash out, but failing.

"Please, Inuyasha, I can't deal with this now, something of the utmost urgency has drawn me here, and if Father doesn't hear of it soon we-"

"-YOU'RE MY BROTHER!!!" Inuyasha screamed, the women standing nervously on the sidelines getting to their feet cautiously, not sure whether they should attempt to separate the two feuding siblings. "WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT?!!!" Sesshomaru opened his mouth to reply, but was silenced by his younger brother's screams. "'Cause something damn well was wasn't it? For whatever reason you killed that human, _that_ was more important than me?!" The older brother sneered angrily.

"You know all-too-well that _you _are the most important thing to me…I swore to protect you-"

"-THEN WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?!" SMACK! A resonating strike crashed through the sudden silence, as Lord Sesshomaru's palm smashed into Inuyasha's cheek, sending the half-demon into a foreboding calmness, eyes wide with shock, lost for words. Sesshomaru had never hit him before…not in all these years…that was the first blow his brother had ever given him, and it stung far worse than any injury he'd ever received in the past.

Sesshomaru watched his brother with uncertain apology, it pained him to do it, but it was necessary. He didn't have time for this. _But Inuyasha doesn't trust me anymore, _he thought, potentially fatal claws biting into his palm.

"Have you had pleasant dreams recently, Little Brother?" Inuyasha's eyes widened even further, those words stirring a shudder through his being. The voice of his dream came flooding back to him.

"You…how did you-"

"-It was the only way I could warn you from so far away, I didn't know if I'd get back in time, so I had to try and-"

"-Warn me about what?" Sesshomaru observed him for a moment, not saying anything. "Sesshomaru…" That voice so weary, so secretly desperate… "Please, tell me the truth damn it…there was a time where you told me everything…why not now?" The older sibling watched his little brother's eyes cast over with the blissfully obscure fog of his past.

"Because sometimes the truth is more painful than lies…" Inuyasha's head shot up at that.

"What can be more painful than being lied to by someone you trust?!"

A silence swam between the brothers and the two women still observing dumbly, nobody able to find their voices. Two clawed hands came to rest at Inuyasha's shoulders, applying comforting, gentle pressure. The half-demon stared up at Sesshomaru, still unable to find words.

"You desire an answer I can't give…" Lord Sesshomaru finally uttered, turning away from his brother once more, though this time, he received no resistance.

Inuyasha watched blankly as his brother disappeared into the castle, those final words rocking back and forth in his mind. His heart weighed heavy in his chest, because he knew…he knew what those words meant…

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked nervously, hands placing skittishly on her mate's shoulders, drawing slowly from the bitter abyss of misery now evident on his features. "Inuyasha lets go back inside." He didn't respond. "I-"

"-Just shut up!" The half-demon shot at her, spinning on his heel to face her, swatting away her tender embrace. "You – you don't _understand_!"

"Well maybe I would if you _helped _me to understand!"

"It's useless," he growled, "You don't know what it's like to-"

"-To feel pain?" she suggested, tears staining hazel eyes, even as she strived to fight them back. "How quickly you forget the circumstances in which we met." Inuyasha's eyes widened, resentful of releasing his pent up anger on her. She didn't deserve it. It was none-other than his own damn fault for all of this…not Kagome's, she was having a hard enough time as it already was.

"I lost my family," she continued, wetting her suddenly dry lips, "and when I came here to try and help you I was thrown in that…that _hell _and tossed to the mercy of that…that sick malicious…" The obsidian-haired-girl avoided his eyes, staring dejectedly at the earth below their feet. "I fell in love with you long before I even knew who you were…and all this time, I thought I'd come to…to _understand _you a little more, but in reality I don't now you at all." Golden eyes glistened with regret, helpless self-hatred rising within his chest as he watched her turn, leaving him standing there, quite alone, despite his mother's awkward presence at his side. However, Kagome didn't get very far…

Moving away from him, the once priestess crumbled suddenly, her knees giving way from beneath her. Inuyasha shot forwards, catching her swiftly before she met the ground. "Kagome? Kagome what's wrong?" the half-demon asked, panicked, watching her face contort in agony. He looked almost pleadingly up at his mother as she approached. "What's wrong with her? She's not…" He didn't complete his sentence, but she guessed his incomplete question.

"I'm not sure…" the woman answered quietly, gazing at Kagome, unsure, "Get her up to your chambers, I'll fetch someone – quickly now!"

***

Harsh, laboured pants disturbed the obsidian tendrils of hair that hung limply into Kagome's eyes, Inuyasha hurriedly darting up the stairs, the girl crushed into his chest. She was so dizzy, all this movement was making her a bit sick…and that ever-present agony still throbbed painfully.

Suddenly Kagome felt herself pressed gently into the comforting softness of her own bed, Inuyasha laying her down tenderly before sitting back, watching her with unsure eyes. She couldn't look at him, she was still angry with him, although the pain coursing through her now postponed that irritation, it was still there, brewing beneath the surface. How _dare _he snap at her like that? She growled behind gritted teeth, both in pain and aggravation.

A small, fast knock sounded against the door, but before Inuyasha could respond, it flung open, Izayoi hurrying into the room, a dark-haired girl close behind. The half-demon watched the stranger unsurely, instincts distrustful of her as she approached his very vulnerable mate. But the female ignored him, hastily pulling back the folds of Kagome's yukata to press her hands over her swollen stomach. Inuyasha repressed the growl at such intrusive touching, knowing she was only trying to help, still he couldn't stand the way Kagome tried to retreat from those touches – she was still wary of physical contact, a deep-running scar that was still craved into her soul from Katsura's violation.

"There's nothing wrong with the baby," the girl assured them, not meeting any of their eyes as she continued to examine Kagome. "Really painful cramps?" She asked Kagome, to which she received a small, pained nod in answer.

"Do you know what's hurting her?" Inuyasha asked anxiously. The dark-haired-female turned to look upon him.

"The baby is quite large, as you can tell from her size, and often at the end of mixed-blood pregnancies, the mother has 'pre-labour' cramps, often triggered by both physical and mental stress."

"So, she's not having the pup yet?" The woman shook her head.

"No."

"Well then why is she in pain?"

"I told you-"

"-Well then how can we make these stupid cramps stop?!"

"Inuyasha!" Izayoi scolded, "Don't shout at Takaya." The half-demon grumbled a half-hearted apology, avoiding the healer's eyes.

"I've got something we can rub on her stomach to alleviate the pain, but I'll have to go fetch it – it's downstairs," Takaya answered Inuyasha's question, getting to her feet. "I'll return in a moment, Lady Izayoi."

"Wait a sec." Both Izayoi and Takaya turned to look at Inuyasha as he spoke. "I'll come with you; I er…need to ask you something…" The dark-haired-healer nodded, departing from the room with Inuyasha following in her wake.

"I-Inuyasha?" Kagome asked shakily, not really sure why she couldn't feel him by her side anymore. Gods her stomach really hurt – something must be wrong, it shouldn't feel like this if she wasn't giving birth… Izayoi leant forwards, holding Kagome's hand gently.

"It is alright, Kagome, Inuyasha will return in a moment…" Kagome groaned in agony, rolling over onto her side, not able to bear the weight of her swollen stomach any longer. She could feel the pup within kick her promptly, as if telling her to turn back over, but she couldn't. Running her fingers gently over her pup, Kagome shut her eyes against the room.

"Kagome?"

"I'm just…I'm so tired, Izayoi…" The older woman gazed down at her with motherly devotion, brushing the tendrils of obsidian hair away from her forehead.

"It's alright…Takaya will bring you something for the pain…and maybe something to help you sleep-"

"-She's human." Izayoi frowned. "She's the human that was at the table, at mine and Inuyasha's mating night – you told me she was human." Izayoi nodded, though still looked confused.

"Yes, she is human."

"So…why is she a healer here?" That smile graced Izayoi's lips.

"Kagome…I'm sure as a priestess you are well aware that some humans can have extraordinary powers…Miss Takaya is one of them…"

Kagome turned her face towards the wall, tears bleeding into her dark eyes.

"Not anymore…I don't have that kind of power anymore…"

"Kagome?" asked Izayoi, anxiety weighing heavily on her voice, Kagome didn't seem like herself…

"I used to be strong…now look at me, I'm – I'm _beyond _pathetic-"

"-Kagome-"

"-And it's all that bastard's fault…Katsura, when he…he took it…" Izayoi frowned again, still confused, although by this time also a little scared.

"'_Took'? _Took what?"

"My…innocence…"

"But, Inuyasha – he was your first, wasn't he?" Kagome turned to face her quickly.  
"I didn't mean that – yes, Inuyasha was…I gave Inuyasha my virginity, but Katsura was…" Izayoi took Kagome's hand again, squeezing it softly, reassuringly.

"Kagome…I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. Your innocence and your virginity are the same thing, my dear." The once-priestess looked upon her, dark-eyes hooded with shame.

"It's not, Lady Izayoi…when I say, my _'innocence'_, I don't mean my virginity, I mean…I mean the purity inside me that I was blessed with as a priestess, the purity that gives me my powers…well it's gone…I haven't been a priestess for a long time now…"

Inu-no-Taishou's mate gazed upon her with sympathy, a look that made Kagome look away swiftly.

"Katsura…he…tainted me, he made me hate myself, he made me feel…dirty…and when a priestess's soul becomes polluted, she loses her powers…" Izayoi pulled back a little, so as not to suffocate the young girl who right now, didn't want to be looked at with such scrutiny.

"Why did you not say something before?"

"I didn't because…If I said I lost my powers, Inuyasha might blame himself, or more likely blame the fact that I slept with him… I haven't been thinking about it until recently…when I realised just how much of a burden I have been to you all…"

"Kagome, no, we look after you because you are our family, its out duty to do so while you are pregnant-"

"-But when the baby is born I'll still be weak. This pain…I could withstand it if I had my powers, I would be able to _do _something if I was ever attacked again, instead of standing there and screaming for Inuyasha like some helpless little child!"

A silence fell between the two women then, an awkward quiet where Kagome felt worse and worse about herself, and Izayoi thought of how to console her.

"We're immortal, Kagome," the older woman said at last, "but the world around us is not. This demon world, it will grow old, and die, and leave way for another ruling race, who knows, perhaps even 'weak humans' will one day dominate this planet… But in any case, it is for that reason, that we should treasure every moment or our lives, Kagome. Life is precious, no matter how short or long it is, we should enjoy each moment in this age, and every age to follow… The bad things that happen to us, they're important, but we cannot keep reliving them – remaining in the past, or we forget to live our present lives… Do you understand?" Kagome turned to face her at last, meeting her gaze with watery hazel eyes.

"I do…I'm sorry Izayoi…it's these mood swings, they…they completely take me over sometimes…" Izayoi smiled warmly.

"I understand, I have been there myself…"

That agony swelled within her once more, and she was reminded painfully, that Inuyasha and Takaya had yet to return. _What's keeping so long_? Kagome wondered, amidst her pain. Suddenly, Izayoi bolted to her feet, staring wildly towards the door. She'd heard something…voices…footsteps…danger.

***

Takaya walked silently beside Inuyasha, the half-demon offering a cold sneer to Eisuke and Satoru as they passed them, opening the door to his father's study, (no doubt where he'd summoned them) and disappearing inside. _Geez, I hate those guys lurking around, 'loyal' my ass…There's something a little off about them being here so often…_

"Lord Inuyasha?" The half-demon tilted his head to gaze upon the human. "Is there any particular reason why you wished to accompany me?" Inuyasha worried his lower lip between his fangs nervously.

"I er…well I just… I was wondering if…as a healer, you had any idea why I've been…dreaming these…these sick dreams lately, about Kagome and the baby being taken and I…I just…"

"Why do you presume I would know something like that?" she asked politely.

"You're a healer; I thought maybe that there was-"

"-That there was something wrong with you?" Inuyasha nodded awkwardly.

"My Lord, I am no expert on dreams, however…I believe that perhaps they are just caused by stress, and embodiments of your worst fears."

"But Sesshomaru, he said that…that he sent them to me…but he can't of, could he?" Takaya observed him then, eyes devoid of her thoughts, though Inuyasha knew she knew something, otherwise, she wouldn't have fallen silent for so long.

"It is possible, for him to form a temporary connection, if you were thinking of him, and he of you, combined with the specific rituals, yes, he could indeed send you a dream…"

Inuyasha frowned as she turned to walk away, and he grabbed her shoulder, turning her to face him.

"So why? Why would he want to? Didn't he just-" Takaya froze.

"What?" Inuyasha sniffed heavily, taking in her scent, and his eyes darkened, brow furrowing in a frown.

"Your smell…"

"I have to go," she stated quickly, "Lady Kagome will be wanting a-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Inuyasha, screamed, seizing her elbow. "Why? Why do you stink of Sesshomaru?!"

"You are hurting me-"

"-You're one of them aren't you? That's why he came back, because you're both part of the revolutionaries – Eisuke, Satoru, Sesshomaru, you, you're all here for a reason – something's gonna go down isn't it? That's why Sesshomaru sent me that dream, because he feels guilty about doing it – WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!!!"

"Please stop!"

"INUYASHA!" Inuyasha glared at his father as he, Eisuke and Satoru emerged from the study, eyeing him with horror. "Inuyasha let her go, NOW!" The half-demon growled, though obeyed his father's command, releasing her reluctantly.

"Miss Takaya, are you alright?" Inu-no-Taishou asked gently, the woman nodded franticly, eyeing Inuyasha with uncertainty. "Alright…now, would you be so good to return to your duties." Takaya, again nodded, departing as swiftly as she could.

No sooner than she had descended the stairs and out of sight, than Inu-no-Taishou rounded on his youngest son. "What in the seven hells do you think you were _doing_?!" Inuyasha turned his gaze from his father. He didn't answer. How _could _he answer, and tell him what a filthy traitor his son and heir was?

"I only wanted the truth, Father…" Inu-no-Taishou frowned.

"And you thought you would strangle it out of her?"

"No, Sir…I just-"

"-I see your youngest is in need of discipline, Lord Inu-no-Taishou," Lord Eisuke chimed in, rousing a hateful sneer from Inuyasha. "No doubt a bitter after-effect to your mollycoddling."

"Stay out of this you damn pig!" Inuyasha growled, "I've put up with your shit since I was born, but not anymore! Shut your mouth and mind your damn business you old fart!"

"Inuyasha, calm down and-"

"-No. Why can't you see it?! He's a-"

"-Inuyasha!" The half-demon flinched at his father's tone. "That is enough. I am tired of you releasing your anger on other people. I realise you are frightened for Kagome but that is no excuse." Inuyasha's ears lowered slightly, he'd never had his father talk down to him like that before, so disappointed, so…tired, tired of _him_. Offering the demon lord a melancholy glance, Inuyasha turned, walking away.

"I apologise, Lord Eisuke for Inuyasha's behaviour…" Inuyasha heard as he made his slow way down the corridor, his father and the other demons' voices still very close by.

"It is perfectly understandable…" The half-demon heard Eisuke's falsely polite words. Then he turned, offering his father an apologetic glance, finding the demon lord still facing him, watching him. Gold eyes staring into him, with that gaze that he swore could see right into his soul. Suddenly he was that small boy again, raising his arms to be lifted onto his father's shoulders, to be taken away from his miserable naïve childhood. Suddenly everything was torn away…

Satoru turned, Inuyasha's heartbeat thudding slowly in his ears as he watched, disbelievingly, the world moving in slow-motion as that reviled demon seized the sword from his waist, plunging it into the demon lord's back. Inu-no-Taishou screamed, turning to face the boy who'd stabbed him, claws reaching forwards to tear at him, only to have Eisuke leap forwards, jutting between them, throwing Inu-no-Taishou backwards. "Stupid boy, give me that sword!" Eisuke spat, seizing the blade and rounding on the demon lord who had crumbled to his knees in agony, blood pooling around him. "I'll finish of the _'Great Lord Inu-no-Taishou'_!"

"NOOOOO!!!" Inuyasha screamed, tearing through the air, darting towards his fallen father, throwing himself between them, capturing the flat edges of the blade between his hands.

"Filthy half-breed!" Eisuke spat, pressing forwards, the blade mere inches from Inuyasha's chest. The half-demon snarled.

"'_Half-breed'_? So what if I am? At least I'm not a slimy BASTARD!!!" He punctuated the movement by shoving the blade forward, the hilt smacking Eisuke in the chin, causing him to reel back in pain. Half-demon claws tore into flesh, relishing in the feel of that treacherous blood under his fingers. Eisuke cried out in agony, but Inuyasha drank it all in like sake. He'd been waiting 200 years to tear these people apart for what they did to him, for what they did to his mother. And yet he didn't know whether it was his bleeding father lying but a few feet from him, or his conscience, but revenge was bitterer than he'd expected…

These were revolutionary traitors, for over two centuries they'd been pretending to be his father's friends, just to stab him in the back – literally. He'd always believed they were traitors, but still…his father had believed otherwise…and he hated his father being wrong…

A final deafening cry filled the air as Eisuke drew his final breathe, lying quite still, eyes staring wide, horrified at the now crimson-eyed half-demon looming above him, blood gleaming on his claws. "MURDERER!!!" Screamed Satoru, darting forwards, tackling Inuyasha to the ground. The now full-demon Inuyasha snarled at the body clinging to his back, reaching behind him, talons raking into Satoru's flesh, yanking him forwards onto the floor.

"This is face of the boy whose childhood you destroyed…" demon Inuyasha growled bitterly, pouncing, claws poised inches from the now quivering coward's throat. "…with your cruel words, harsh tortures, and now the underhanded murder of the father who took me in, loved me, cherished me when everyone else would have thrown me aside…" The real Inuyasha spoke from inside his heart; they were his words, his fury, his tears that streamed down lilac-crested cheeks. Yet the face of the demon remained menacing, ruled by anger, half-demon Inuyasha crying inside at the flashes of bitter memories of what should have been the happiest times of his life…the times this creature played a large part in stealing from him…

"What do you think, of these _'filthy half-breed' _claws ripping you apart?"

"P-Please, Please-"

"'_Please'_?" Inuyasha growled mockingly, grated demon voice rasping in his throat.

"Have mercy!!!" Inuyasha's face twisted into a morbid smirk.

"I dimly recall beseeching the very same thing from you once, _Lord Satoru_," Inuyasha growled, claws pressing into the flesh of his throat, cutting into flesh. "_Stop it! STOP IT PLEASE! MAKE THEM STOP!" _Inuyasha repeated, imitating the words of a childhood Inuyasha. "Do you remember your response?" Satoru whimpered. "DO YOU?!!! _'Calm them off yourself – Half-breed – You're a half-breed, not even a person – you're a thing! _That's what you said to me; well this _thing _is going to rip your THROAT OUT!!!" Claws pressed forwards, ready to tear the life from this loathsome creature, but he paused. That same, cruel laughter of those children on that day – everyday – every time anyone had ever mocked him as a child – as an adult. Their laughter filled his head, ringing in his ears with shrill, cackling laughter. Inuyasha screamed in agony, holding his head. Satoru took his chance, kicking Inuyasha hard in the stomach, sending him flying backwards, a scarce inch from where his father lay.

"DIE FILTHY MONGREL!!!" Satoru leapt upon him, seizing his wrists, pinning his hands back to the floor, directed those claws away from him. Inuyasha snarled, claws scrambling to tear into that oppressive flesh, but in doing so, his fingers skimmed something…

"Never again…" Inuyasha growled lowly – the _real _Inuyasha. Satoru's eyes widened. "Never again will you say that to me…Never again will those words TORTURE ME!!!" Scrambling fingers seized Tetsusaiga from beside his hand (obviously having fallen from his father's waist in his downfall), the blade roaring to life in his hand, as he swiped forwards, crying out needlessly as he did so, Satoru's body falling to the side off of him, separate from his head.

Inuyasha lay his head back against the cold, unforgiving floor, chest heaving up and down breathlessly. And then the tears came. His face contorted in agony upon remembering what had happened mere moments before, fresh tears looming in his eyes as he turned, dropping the now blood-stained Tetsusaiga, crawling like a limp puppy over to where his father lay.

Golden eyes glistened with misery as he stared down at the back of his father's head, hands skittishly reaching down to touch him. His father, he'd never look at him again. He'd never falsely assure him everything would be alright in the end…The Great demon lord had fallen…

Suddenly he jumped, hands flinching and drawing back as his father drew a swift, shaky breath. "D-Dad?" A strangled cough was his response, and he leant down, frantically turning his father over to gaze upon him. Eyes lit with disbelieving happiness, blinking back tears as those eyes opened a smirk gracing blood-stained lips. "D-Dad?"

"I-I'm alright, Son," Inu-no-Taishou coughed, "H-He missed the heart…I should heal by tomorrow morning…" Inuyasha smirked, relief flooding through him. "Demon blood and all…" The demon lord's hand reached up shakily, stroking his son's cheek. "You saved my life," Inuyasha smiled, "I couldn't be prouder of you, Son…" He paused, and the half-demon frowned slightly at the foreboding silence. "Sound the alarms, Inuyasha, the revolutionaries…they're coming…"

***

Kagome cried out, her whole body tensing as another wave of pain passed through her. These cramps, they really hurt. "GODS!" She screamed, drawing Izayoi and Takaya back to her bedside. "IF THIS IS CRAMPS I DON'T WANNA GIVE BIRTH!!!" Izayoi smiled, stroking her head softly.

"Here," said Takaya, scooping some of the concoction in the bowl into her hands, smoothing it over her stomach. Kagome flinched. She hated people touching her, and she hated even more having _any _extent of her flesh exposed to anyone – even to Izayoi and someone trying to help her. An anxiety-driven tremble coursed through her, a reaction to the touch and those eyes upon her, her heart thudded wildly in her chest, the baby within her stomach kicking at the hand running gently over her swollen belly, as if defending its mother. Takaya smiled. "Well, whether boy or girl, this baby is going to be powerful." Kagome laughed nervously.

"Yeah, sure feels like it when the little devil kicks me."

Despite her dislike of the contact, the once-priestess felt the pain ebb away slowly, dissolving as if it never were under the powerful effects of the substance rubbed into her stomach. _Demon medicine, _her mind supplied, _it holds wonders humans can't even begin to imagine…_

"Right," sighed Izayoi, leaning back slightly in her chair. "I'll go fetch Inuyasha, I think you guys need to-" SLAM! The room trembled as something collided with the door, the wood flying off it's hinges, causing the women within the room to scream. Kagome's eyes widened in horror, fingers biting into the bedclothes at the sight of the demons gathered in the doorway. That face, so horribly familiar, upturned with a dangerous smile.

"My boss wants to see you, _Lady Kagome_," Katsura purred, gesturing the men behind him into the room.

Kagome screamed, scrambling to her feet, darting to the corner of the room. Those fingers snatched at her skin, grasping her arms. She kicked out uselessly, neither as strong nor agile with the extra weight she sported. She was helpless. She hated it. Izayoi cried out, bolting from her chair, seizing it, and launching it at one of the attacker's heads. Fist clenching, the mate of Inu-no-Taishou threw all she had into the blow, sending both hr and the demon reeling. Kagome moved forwards, the Lady of the western lands embracing her daughter-in-law tightly, wincing at the agony in her bruised fist.

"NO!!!" cried Takaya, her body twisting in attempts for freedom as the demons seized her arms and legs, ready to drag her from the room. Kagome's eyes widened then, capturing a glimpse of something confusingly familiar, the iridescent mark carved into otherwise flawless flesh. "LADY KAGOME, RUN!" Kagome snapped back from her thougtfulness, gazing at Izayoi, helping her to her feet.

"No, I won't runaway, not without you two – AH!" Katsura smirked as he seized a fistful of the pregnant girl's hair, tossing her to the bed.

"STOP IT!" Izayoi screamed, reaching for the poker by the fire. Katsura growled, seizing her extended hand, meeting the woman's eyes.

"Are you still _'watching me', _Izayoi?" He asked, echoing her past words, "I knew I'd have to deal with you one day, My LADY!" The words were followed by a sharp twist of the woman's wrist, and it snapped, Izayoi howled in pain, Katsura seizing the poker she'd been reaching for and smacking it across her head. Kagome and Takaya cried out as they watched the Lady of the western lands tumble to the floor, not moving.

"IZAYOI!!!"

"Now, get them out of here," Katsura ordered, the men carrying Takaya from the room. The reviled demon turned to the screaming girl, reaching for her. Kagome slapped his hands away, punching his chest, face, anything she could reach as he tried to grab her. "Don't force me to silence you-"

"-YOU TREACHEROUS BASTARD!!! I'LL SEE YOU BURN IN HELL!!!"

SMACK! Katsura had raised his hand, backhanding her across her face, sending the woman flying backwards onto the bed, knocking her unconscious.

"Just wait to see what wonders are in store for you, _My lady_," he taunted, lifting her into his arms, her body limp in unconsciousness. "Then you will know what _hell _is…"

TBC


	17. 17 The Body, The Truth, The Inevitable

Author's Note:

Heyo wonderful readers. Neways, well I always put the date started/created at the beginning of my fics (in their original documents anyway) and I discovered I actual began this fic (as in wrote the first 6 chapters) on Wednesday 14th December 2005 0_0 a While ago ne? XD Then when I posted it here I started writing the rest, which is why its now a WIP. Any-who, enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy the next installment, thank you so much for all reviewe, they were sincerely appreciated ^_^ This is an extra long chappie ^.^

**WARNING! Some gross and icky bits in here, I apologise if they offend anyone.**

Enjoy, love, review _please_?

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The Body, The Truth, The Inevitable

Seventeen

Chaos bombarded the half-demon as he weaved in and out of the panicked people, dashing through the halls. He had to find Kagome, if Eisuke and Satoru were traitors, that meant that all this time they'd been dropping by, keeping close watch on her…_that's _what the dreams meant…Sesshomaru knew… Sesshomaru was in on it…it all made sense so suddenly. They all knew there were revolutionary spies within the castle walls, but his brother, he cared for him, he knew that…perhaps it was that affection, the very love that couldn't stop him from betraying him, but it prodded that conscience into offering his little brother some slight chance of escaping alive…

Sesshomaru had never agreed with their father's rule or decisions, he'd always argued with him about the New Laws, why had they not seen it coming before? Were they too trusting? Too stupid? Or did they just place a little more faith in the demon than he deserved? Whatever reason, Sesshomaru was lost to them now, Inuyasha knew that, and if they faced him on the battle field, he'd have to kill him… His heart clenched in his chest at that – kill his own brother? The one he'd adored, admired and trusted all these years? He shook his head, if Sesshomaru were to be killed, he was sure he wouldn't be able to do it, however, that stern glint to his father's eyes as they both came to the same conclusion about his older brother, it told him that The Great Lord Inu-no-Taishou would be the one to kill his oldest son, if it had to be done…

All of these horrifying thoughts assaulted his mind as he darted towards his and Kagome's room, the floods of people fleeing to the safe house almost knocking him back – their desperation evident in the distinct stench of fear on the suffocating air. Because they knew…the Great Dog-Demon was helpless right now, the oldest son had betrayed them, and the youngest son…he would get his family to safety before even _considering _anyone else – selfish? Perhaps…but Inuyasha didn't care…

His heart thumped madly against his chest as he rounded the corner, bare feet thundering on the wooden floor as he flung the door open, flinching as it fell off its hinges – damage he was sure must've been done before he even touched it. Golden eyes widened in disbelieving horror as they swept across the room. Furniture shattered, tattered bed-clothing, blood, the distinct, overbearing scent of blood, fear…

It swarmed his senses, he was drowning in them… He could sense that repulsive odour of the attackers – Katsura and a few others, along with the scents of the people he was looking for. _Kagome, Takaya…Mother, _he thought, picking up their scents, eyes widened again. "Mother?!" Inuyasha shot towards the fallen body by the fireside, dropping to his knees. Tears pricked the backs of his eyes then, as a shaky hand quivered skittishly down to brush the blood-stained tendrils of ebony hair from the fallen woman's face, so as to look upon her deathly paleness. He felt a lump rise in his throat, choking, drowning, dying. She was gone? No, he refused to accept that. He pulled his hand away, moving to pick her up, but he couldn't…he couldn't move her, couldn't…disturb her…

"Mum?!" he asked again, begging silently for an answer, but no answer came. He heard and felt his father's slow approach. He couldn't let him see her like this… She needed some…some dignity…lying there, sprawled across the ground, her kimono and hair dishevelled… Inuyasha sniffed, inhaling shakily, often forgetting to breathe, the weight on his chest constricting his agonised heart. This wasn't how he wanted to remember her… With that ever-growing sickness within him still, Inuyasha turned her over slowly, delicately, gazing at her closed eyes, willing them to open, to stare at him with the doting faith and motherly adoration she always showed him, as he brushed his clawed fingers through her hair gently, smoothing it away from her face that was usually so rosy and full of life…

"I…I never really showed you how much you meant to me…I guess…" he mumbled incoherently, not that it mattered, he supposed. "Through it all…you were the light guiding the way… Sesshomaru was my big brother, my only friend, I trusted him but…but you were the only one that understood me… We were the same, we didn't fit…" he smiled, as if recalling fond memories, holding his mother's prone form to his chest, absently mimicking the times when she'd held him in such a way. "I was your world…I appreciate that now, you loved me more than anything in the world… You believed in me, you had faith in me when no one else did…" His eyes were overwhelmed with tears, his vision lost beyond them. He was so miserable he'd like to _die_, why did this happen? What did he ever _do_?! "You were my Mother…my home…" He broke off, losing his voice momentarily as his grip on the body tightened. "I remember, all the times you'd hold me, when I was still small…and I was so scared, lost…you'd always tell me you were proud of me, and that things would be alright in the end…" He lost himself then. His voice had evaporated in his throat, doused with tears and disappearing into thin air…he was lost….

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha?!" Came that desperate, panicked voice, before the owner of it appeared. "Inuyasha, the castle has been evacuated, the guards are focusing solely on their protection, all we need now is-" The demon lord lost his voice as he stood in the doorway at last, the bleeding still not stopped, limping into the room, gazing hollowly at the scene before him. "I-Izayoi?" Inu-no-Taishou asked quietly, his voice quite unlike his usual tone. "Izayoi?"

"Did you see Sesshomaru?" Inu-no-Taishou's head shot towards his son, torn between despair for his mate and being astounded at the cold, hard fury carved into his youngest son's face.

"No, he wasn't with the escapees, which means-"

"-He's still in the castle… Great," he finished, resting his mother's weight gently to his father's arms before stalking towards the door.

"Wait!" Inuyasha paused in the doorway, not turning to face his father, he couldn't – he couldn't look back and see the destroyed room, his mother's corpse lying in his bleeding father's arms. "You…you don't think Sesshomaru is…?"

"I do…" Inuyasha answered his father's incomplete question, "not intentionally, but either way…he's going to pay for selling his family to those _bastards_…"

"Inuyasha!" This time Inuyasha turned, grinding his teeth in aggravation, before noting his father's deadly serious expression. "Take this, it will protect you, make sure you never let go of it." The half-demon's arms outstretched, easily catching the Tetsusaiga as Inu-no-Taishou tossed it to him. Golden eyes trained on the blade for a moment…the legendary sword of his father, it had passed to him? His father, the one who had never trusted him to face a battle, he was giving him the sword that could kill one-hundred demons in one swing? Able to offer the demon lord nothing more than a determined, silent nod, Inuyasha disappeared from the doorway, anger rushing through his veins, as he followed his brother's scent with revulsion.

The hilt of the sword just felt right in his hand, little did he know of its ability to subdue his demon blood, leaving him in control, and that, one way or another, it was destined to pass to him. He didn't know any of this _precious _pre-destined fate, he didn't care – all he cared about was his family, and all he knew was that Sesshomaru was going to pay dearly for helping that family wither and die like a weak flowerbed scorched by the unforgiving sun.

Suddenly the scent he knew all too well grew stronger – he was close by. His footsteps became heavier, laden with anger, as clawed fingers clenched around the sword, the half-demon marching into the gardens his mother had loved so much, gaze hardening, as it met the silvery figure standing there, quite alone – quite condemned…

"It appears you have found me at last, Little brother…" Inuyasha growled lowly.

"I'm gonna kill you for what you've brought upon us…"

"Kill your own brother? How shameful of you-"

"-You're making me do this…Mum is dead, Kagome, Takaya, they're gone, Eisuke and Satoru nearly killed Dad, and where were you?" Sesshomaru neither answered nor turned to face him. It sent fiery sparks of pure fury up Inuyasha's spine. "Turn and face me Sesshomaru!!!" Inu-no-Taishou's heir complied, slowly facing his younger brother, that cold impassive expression on his face, gold eyes, silver hair and demonic crests lustrous in the beaming light from the sky above. "WHERE WERE YOU?!"

"I was searching."

"SEARCHING FOR WHAT?" Sesshomaru, again, didn't answer. "DAMN YOU! GET ANGRY, GET UPSET!" He lunged forwards, Tetsusaiga barely missing his brother's flesh. "I'M SICK OF YOU'RE STUPID COLD HEART! MY MOTHER IS DEAD! KAGOME AND THAT TAKAYA GIRL ARE GONE! WE'VE LOST!!!"

"Do not condemn the battle to failure before it has even begun…"

"STOP TALKING IN RIDDLES AND ANDSWER ME!!!" He screamed, throat burning with the force on his voice. "WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?!"

The older demon remained silent for what seemed like forever, so long, that Inuyasha didn't think he was going to answer, gripping the sword tighter, ready to dart in for a second attack, when he watched his brother's composure tighten slightly. There was something wrong…

"If you wish to call it betrayal, do so…"

"Save it," Inuyasha spat, "I'm holding our father's sword, if you don't cut the crap and the riddles and give me a straight answer, I'll cut you down with it…brother or no brother." Sesshomaru smirked.

"You couldn't do it…you've never even killed before…" That taller form drew towards him, practically daring him to go through with it, watching quivering hands as they clutched the sword, desperate to use it, but unable to. "However, I will answer you, nonetheless…" The half-demon felt his insides knot in apprehension, wetting his lips nervously.

"I didn't betray you," Sesshomaru began quietly, the words barely registering in Inuyasha's overly hopeful ears. "That night, when you smelled the blood on me…I hadn't killed…I took something I shouldn't have…" Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow in questioning. "Miss Rin Takaya's virginity…" The half-demon almost choked on his own tongue at that – _Sesshomaru_, with a_ human_?!

"Don't tell me you damn well raped her-"

"-Do not be absurd," Sesshomaru sneered, "I…it is an affair that has been coming on for some time now…After three years of mere secret courting, we…we mated in secret…" Inuyasha's eyes widened.

"Y-You had a mate? And you never told me? _Me_?" The demon looked away awkwardly.

"I could not tell anyone, do you not see? You of all people should know what it is like for the female – for all of us. She would be targeted, just as Kagome was targeted, and not just because she was _mixed-breeding_, but because she fell in love with a son of Inu-no-Taishou. She would suffer, because of us, I would not allow that…" The half-demon felt his heart clench, all this time he'd been hating him so badly…when in reality, he was in so much pain…in such desperation to have someone to talk to about it, but unable to do so.

"So…" Inuyasha prompted, "So you both kept it secret?" Sesshomaru inclined his head slightly in a small nod.

"Was my decision not justified? Someone must have found out, however, since she has been taken prisoner along with Kagome… Thus when you confronted me, I could not say anything, particularly with that insufferable Lord Eisuke lurking nearby… I had to leave, and leave her behind as well." Inuyasha frowned.

"Wow…any kids?" Sesshomaru offered him an almost scolding look, reminding him this wasn't the time. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so…" he paused, that dull, throbbing ache in his chest reminding him painfully of the loss he felt – the one he couldn't get used to, that he kept almost forgetting…

"But what were you _doing _all this time?" Inuyasha asked, pushing back the memory of his mother's dead face – he wouldn't cry in front of Sesshomaru, no way.

"I was taking out revolutionary posts, frightening them all into one single station, discovering their secrets…"

"And?"

"I have discovered the location of their current residence, and…" he paused a moment, unsure as to what he was about to divulge, "I have discovered what they want."

"Which is?"

"Perhaps we had better not discuss this here-"

"-Which _is_?" Again, Sesshomaru paused, watching him closely.

"We must go to father, round up our men – if you have any hope of reaching Kagome, and I Rin, we must waste no more time."

"Don't change the subject Sesshomaru-"

"-We cannot afford anymore time to be wasted, I will relay to you everything I know, once father and the others are here also – Do you honestly want Kagome in their grasp any longer?" Inuyasha shook his head, shuddering in anger at what they might be doing to her. He rid himself of those thoughts, he would get her back, and when he did, Katsura was going down, he would never lay a hand on the people he loved again, he'd make sure of that, even if it cost him his life…

***

Kagome slowly found herself being dragged grudgingly back into consciousness. Her eyelids still feeling too heavy to open, remained closed, as she became aware of her aching muscles, and the coldness of the air around her, not to mention the furious pounding migraine within her head. She winced, the pain rising slowly up in her body, and opening her eyes at last, she pulled her arms round her apparently naked body. _Where are my clothes?_ She panicked. She had been stripped of them and they were nowhere to be seen. She looked around nervously. Finding herself resting on a bed in the middle of an almost empty room, furnished with just the bed and a long table with strange looking implements, towels and a water basin upon it.

Suddenly she cried out, gritting her teeth together, doubling over slightly with the full force of the agony, and then she looked down at the sheets below her; the sheets were damp. The girl's eyes widened, pulling her arms round her swollen stomach as tears began to build within her eyes. _No not now, please not now!_

The shot of pain hit her again, harder, and she bit hard into her lip, trying to stifle the scream. Tears fell down her face at the torment. _It hurts…I didn't think it started this quickly…or maybe it started when I was… _Then the agony came again, faster and even harder than before, and she couldn't silence the scream.

The doors to the room flung open and people (or demons) to be more exact, flooded in, seeing the writhing girl, rigid with pain, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Quick, summon Takaya!" barked one of the demons, and two of the others left the room. Kagome rolled over onto her side as the contraction passed, holding her hands over her intimacy, as blood oozed out of her.

"Inuyasha…" she whimpered, closing her eyes as the tears blurred her vision. _I'm so sorry…I was angry with you, and now this is all my fault…_

"About time, Takaya!" she heard the demon bark once more, and Kagome struggled as she felt someone turning over her limp body. Opening her eyes, she saw Rin, long dark hair that usually hung around her face now swept back, revealing and a vicious looking, iridescent scar across her cheek, the woman pressing her body back into the blankets. At the sight of the scar on her face, Kagome's mind suddenly recalled the brief flash of the scar at the top of her leg when they were taken… _A demon mating mark, _her mind suggested, though remaining silent. _That means that Takaya is mated…to a demon?_

"What's wrong with the wench?" Rin looked the girl over, and pulled softly at Kagome's wrists, trying to get her to move her hands, but she failed.

"Don't be stubborn," she said softly, merely sighing deeply when Kagome still refused to move her hands. "Lady Kagome, please, you _know _me, let me help you." Kagome looked at her carefully with tear stained eyes, the pain having subsided slightly as the contractions paused shortly. The only people who were ever expected to call her that, and the only ones that did, were members of Inuyasha's family, and the people who served Inuyasha and herself, under Inu-no-Taishou's reign. _Is this why they brought her here? They __**knew **__I was going to have the baby soon, so they took both of us…_

Suddenly another contraction hit her, and she arced with the agony, screaming so loud that her voice tore at her throat. _There must be something wrong_, her fearful mind panicked, _it shouldn't be hurting_ this_ much surely_.

Rin leant down, wiping Kagome's sweat covered forehead. "Please, let me help you." The once-priestess realized that this woman could have easily forced her to move her hands, but instead she was asking. Recalling how desperately both this woman and Izayoi had struggled to save her before, she knew…she could trust her; she didn't have much choice anyway…

Hesitantly, she removed her hands, her blood trickling down her fingers. Her breathing was heavy and uneasy as the contractions passed once more, and was trying very hard not to be aware of the demons gathered at a distance from the bed, not really paying her any attention.

"Why am I bleeding this much?" croaked Kagome, and the woman looked another with a kind smile.

"It's nothing to worry about," she replied, patting her hand, and turning to the demon in charge, Katsura, who was lurking behind her, watching what she was doing carefully. "What do you want?"

"Hold your tongue wench. What's wrong with her?" The woman sneered.

"Her water broke a while ago, the labor has started. But it will be a while yet," Kagome winced at the oncoming pain. _A while? I can't take this any longer!_ "You don't need to be here, the baby isn't coming yet." The demon, along with a few others grinned maliciously.

"And give you the opportunity to help the whore get back to that half-demon bastard and Inu-no-Taishou? I think not. We're not leaving you alone for a moment." Rin remained expressionless. "Besides, scouts have reported sightings of Inu-no-Taishou's army on the move," he grinned with yellowing teeth at the agonized girl on the damp bed, holding her terrified gaze, "they'll be coming to get her back. And when they do, she can watch them all dying, trying to save _her_ unworthy flesh and bone."

Kagome winced; biting back a scream, not willing to let these creatures see her pain without a fight, there was no way she'd give them the satisfaction so easily.

"Unworthy of what?" she growled bitterly, flinching in pain once more, only letting a quiet whimper escape. He grinned, leaning down towards her, making her struggle and try to fight him off her. She whimpered as his clawed hands pressured her stomach hard.

"To carry a child with such power," he replied, licking her cheek ardently, and she flinched, "not even a mortal as stunning as you is worthy of it." Kagome punched him hard, not even rousing a reaction, trying to push him off but failing miserably. The demon held her chin and caught her lips with his, massaging her breast roughly, making her wince as his hands pressured her tender flesh.

"Get off her!" shouted Rin, throwing herself forwards and wrenching him away. He glared at her, clawed hand raising, smacking across her face hard, causing her stumble, but she retained her footing. Katsura sneered, walking off and speaking to the other demons watching closely.

Kagome wiped him from her mouth, and shivered with the cold. Rin smiled, leaning down and wiping the sweat from her brow with the damp cloth once more. "I'm sorry, they won't allow me any blankets for you, even though I told them you need to be kept warm." Kagome shuddered again, not listening. Despair was filling her up completely, only interrupted by the agony, as she realized from the demon's words why she was here.

"Inuyasha…" Rin patted her hand once more.

"He's coming to get you; you can see the army advancing on the horizon." Kagome looked at her for the first time in a little while, and the woman nodded. Allowing Rin to help her sit up, and she looked far across the room and out of the window, seeing the dark masses on the horizon that must have been Inu-no-Taishou's armies, advancing rapidly towards the castle. However, not fast enough, as she well knew.

"They want my baby…" Rin nodded sorrowfully as she laid the girl back down carefully.

"The ruler of the revolutionaries wants your son. He has been foreseen to have unconquerable power. The ruler needs your son to obtain that final league of power he requires to overthrow Inu-no-Taishou." The pained girl gasped as she felt the ominous approach of the next contractions. "What a way to overthrow a demon lord, by draining his grandson's energy." Kagome flinched.

"And it has nothing to do with how I revealed the identities of all their _inside _spies?" she asked sarcastically.

"I think the idea actually came from wanting to punish Lord Inuyasha and Lord Sesshomaru for slaughtering half their followers." Kagome looked down at the small bulge of her stomach, and then realized that the demons were watching her. She shut her legs sharply, trying to get to her feet. "Lady Kagome, no, stop, you mustn't get up!"

The girl closed her eyes as the tears began to flow again. Digging her fingernails into the sheets as the contractions she felt approaching, hit her hard. Her screams carried through the air and almost deafened the demons observing her, and she panted, trying to get her breath back as she realized her contractions were coming faster than before. Nearly every minute. Her muscles tightening inside her, at a more rapid pace as time slipped slowly by her, a feeling equivalent to being in hell frozen over.

Kagome fell back exhaustedly into the bed as another piercing cry tore from her throat, and she felt more of her blood pouring out of her. "I've delivered many part demon children, I know what I'm doing okay? You have to trust me." The contractions hit again, and Kagome nodded fiercely. "Okay listen then, the next contraction I want you to bear down against the pain, alright?" Kagome shook her head. "What's wrong?"

"I can't…"

"You can."

"No, they're not having my baby, even if I have to suffer like this even longer, I won't let them get him." Rin took her hand, allowing her to squeeze hers in reflex to the agony.

"Kagome you can't. You're loosing too much blood-"

"I won't bring this baby into the world only to have him taken away. I won't, I won't, I WON'T!" She screamed again as the agony became unbearable, feeling her insides tear as he baby shifted down.

The demon approached once more as Kagome cried hard, still refusing to push.

"What're you doing, this child will be born NOW do you hear me?!" Rin sneered again.

"If the baby is ready to come we can't do anything about that." The demon snarled, leaping down and grasping Kagome's arms, shaking her violently.

"You little demon's whore! Push this child out of you or I'll RIP IT OUT!" Kagome sobbed, not listening to him. The demon growled with annoyance at her stubbornness. "What's it gonna take to get you to push?!" Kagome shook her head, and he shook her more fiercely. "HUH?!"

"I want Inuyasha…" The demon grinned evilly.

"Well you can't have him so deal with it!"

"Then you can deal with this baby not being born…I" The demon threw her back against the bed, and walked over to the other demons, explaining to them what was wrong.

Rin released the girl for a moment, and shifted to check on her baby's progress.

"Please, Kagome…your baby is right there, I can see its head. You have to push." Kagome shook her head. "You're very brave…but you could hurt your baby if you do this."

"It's nothing to do with _bravery_…I'm just so tired…" Another contraction hit, and as the baby moved again, Kagome felt the crown of the baby's head pushing against her widened entrance, and she screamed again.

Suddenly Rin was thrown aside, and the other demons held her back, while two seized Kagome's arms, dragging her up and throwing her back, on her stomach on the bed, holding her arms down to stop her struggling. The superior demon grinned maliciously at Kagome as he advanced, and the girl's eyes widened in fear when she saw what he was holding. The demon stood over her and sneered.

"A shame…I really didn't want to spoil this luscious skin of yours, but you leave me no choice. And before I begin. I'll tell you that I won't stop until you push the damn kid out of you!" With that the iron pressed hard down on the flesh of her back, and Kagome screeched in the torture, as her skin sizzled and burnt under the hot iron as it maimed her flesh, branding her with the revolutionaries' mark. Screams went uncounted as the metal burned into her back, coming down on her flesh more than once. "INUYASHA!" The demon raised it again, advancing back down. "STOP!" He halted mid air, with an evil grin. "No more…" she cried into the sheets, "please…I'll try…" the released her with a satisfactory grin, and released Rin, who ran over to her, fighting back her own tears. The woman tried not to think of how badly the scarring would be for the girl as she gently turned her back round into the proper position, not touching the wounded skin.

"Are you ready?" asked Rin, as Kagome leant her hands back to support her sitting up, not being able to lay back. She nodded hesitantly. _I'm sorry, Inuyasha… _Tears falling from her eyes, she just looked helplessly at the demon who'd tortured her.

"I want to hold him after he's born," she asked raggedly, tears falling faster. He sneered. "Please…" He nodded slowly, and she closed her eyes, taking a sharp intake of breath as she felt the next contraction coming. As the pain seared, she bared down into it, and pushed her baby's head free. Gasping for breath, she felt Rin gently take her baby's shoulders, and winced in pain as she felt even more prominently, the child's shoulder's being turned, Rin concentrating in hurting Kagome as less as possible as she pulled the baby free.

The screaming, newborn child lay on the bed where it had come out, as Rin tried to cut the cord as quickly as possible, feeling the demons advancing. Kagome shifted, trying to see her child, but the demon snatched the pup up into his arms and returned to the group watching nearby, leaving Kagome screaming. "NO! STOP!" they ignored her screams. Rin struggled to pin her down as she fought to get to her feet.

"Kagome, he's okay, you need to get the afterbirth out." Kagome shook her head.

"I want my baby…" Rin shook her head in response. "Give me my baby!" she screamed, and the demon looked back at her carelessly. "Please…let me hold it…" no reply. "Please…" she sobbed, reaching out for the screaming child, concealed from her. "Please let me hold him…"

"It's too late," said Rin.

"No…"

"They have to let you have the kid sooner or later. The pup requires you to live. They need it to live at least a little while so the pup can first draw his powers from the energy stored in your lactation system. Energy from both you and Inuyasha…that helps him become a more powerful demon."

"Is…is it…" The once-priestess paused, gasping for breath, "is it a boy or a girl?" Rin smiled reassuringly.

"It's a little boy."

Kagome watched the backs of the demons hiding her child away, she cried silently at his screams. "Kagome, please push. I told you, they need you…so be patient." Kagome cried.

"I want my baby…they're hurting him…" The afterbirth came free with the final contraction, and she gasped as she bled even more.

"Damn, you're hemorrhaging…" muttered Rin, then looked at Kagome as she bit hard into her lip again. "What the matter?"

"It still feels…it hurts…"

Suddenly Kagome flinched at the deafening squeal of pain from her newborn baby, and she couldn't take it, it hurt worse than anything else she'd suffered at the demons' hands. "INUYASHA!" The demon grimaced.

"Little fool, you're mate isn't coming to save you," Katsura spat.

"Beg to differ." The demon holding her son looked round the room for the person who spoke, and growled.

"Who spoke?" Suddenly the doors burst open, and the demon holding the screaming baby was knocked to the floor, after the child being snatched away from him.

"The father, you shit-wipe," Inuyasha snarled. Holding his freezing son to his warm chest, the half-demon snatched up a blanket and wrapped it round his boy.

"Inuyasha?" asked Kagome hazily, falling back onto the bed, and gasping in agony as her burns were touched, but not having the strength to move.

"Kagome," he surged forwards, not seeing the enraged demon lieutenant advancing on him.

"INUYASHA!" yelled Sesshomaru as he emerged through the door, and the half-demon turned, snatching the enemy's wrist with one hand, and shoving him roughly back into the wall next to where Kagome lay, screaming in agony, and forced the demon's own claws into his chest. Nobody noticed Katsura slinking out of the room…

"Are you alright?" Sesshomaru asked Rin as he stopped before her, eyes bearing furious anxiety yet his face remaining impassive as always. Rin nodded, fingers clenching gently into the front of his kimono, surprised to feel those arms come to embrace her lightly.

"I'm fine." He pulled back a little, considering the fresh bruising brewing beneath the flesh of her cheek, created from Katsura's blow. He frowned, touching the wound gently. "Honestly, I'm okay," the woman assured him, certain she saw a relieved smirk twitching at the corner of his lips.

The baby cried even harder, starting to choke as Inuyasha bent down to his mate's side.

"Kagome? Kagome I'm so sorry," he said, pulling the girl against his chest, making her flinch. "What's wrong?" she shook her head, eyes still closed.

"Inuyasha!" the half-demon turned in response to his brother's call, and saw him and the others fending off the oncoming demons. "Get Kagome out, we need to return to the ranks." The half-demon nodded, and flung his kimono round the naked girl's form, scooping her up into his arms. Sesshomaru knelt down swiftly at his brother's side.

"Take the baby, Sesshomaru," the demon nodded, and then turned to Rin, pulling her up against him.

"No, Inuyasha…please…" Inuyasha knew she wanted to hold their son, but he couldn't let her, she couldn't be responsible for holding him when she was this weak. As the brother's heard the thundering footsteps of the enemies' backup approaching, shot up, and darted through the open window.

***

Kagome screamed as Inuyasha held onto her tight, trying to tell him that he was hurting her, but her words came out punctured with gasps of pain, as the pain in her birth canal continued, and the burns on her back grated against Inuyasha's embrace. "Inuyasha…please…it hurts." Inuyasha looked sorrowfully into her tear-stained eyes. Looking at his brother a little further ahead, struggling with his newborn son, he watched him descend as their father's camp lay finally within their sights. Kagome sobbed into Inuyasha's chest, and he felt her tears trickle down his chest. "Inuyasha stop…it hurts!" he tried not to listen. "INUYASHA STOP!" He looked at her, and suddenly felt blood pouring down his arm. Shifting his hold on her, he saw her blood staining his skin.

"We're almost there, hang on a little longer."

Making his way through the cave that was their current location, Inuyasha winced at his mate's screams as he set her down on the bed of furs at the back, Sesshomaru dragging the blanket that formed some kind of privacy across this partition of the cave behind them, and slid the screaming boy into Rin's arms as he disappeared to join his father. Inuyasha tried to hug Kagome softly, but she pulled away at his touch, and he looked at her writhing form with confusion. "What's wrong with her?" he asked Rin as he watched her set his new son in the make-shift cradle against the wall.

"Let me look," she said, knowing it wasn't just the burns causing her agony, something was wrong.

Inuyasha sat behind his mate, pulling her to rest back against his chest, which she protested against with all her might, though failed to break free as Rin pulled Inuyasha's kimono off her, and gently spread the pained girl's legs. "My god…" she murmured, and Kagome wrenched herself away from the woman, turning onto her side on Inuyasha's lap.

"What?" he panicked, his son still crying in his crib, not helping Kagome to relax.

"Sit her up against you." Inuyasha did as he was told, but once again Kagome whimpered as he forced her injured back against his chest.

Rin got up, and crossed the room to the wash basin.

"Where're you going?" he asked, watching her dash wildly about the room, collecting things.

"I'm preparing for your son's sibling." Inuyasha's eyes widened.

"You mean there's more in there?" Rin nodded. Kagome hadn't heard and Inuyasha flinched as she screamed even louder. Feeling moisture trickling down his chest, he leant her forwards, and saw what was wrong. "Oh, my god…what did they do to you?" he growled quietly, running his fingers lightly over the scarred, bleeding flesh. Kagome whimpered. "Who did this to you?" The once-priestess took in a ragged breath.

"The one that was holding the baby…" he sneered.

"I'll kill him…"

Then Kagome gasped again, and clasped his hand tight in reflex to her pain. Slowly, as Rin continued to gather things for the next baby, Inuyasha leant down to Kagome's wounds, and softly ran his tongue over them. At first, she winced then as he gently caressed the marred flesh with his tongue she relaxed in his arms as she felt his touch soothing the wounds, taking away any pain. Inuyasha stroked her aching thighs softly as he lapped up her blood. After a moment, he pulled her back against his chest, the wounds fully healed and closed, without a trace of scars or even a scratch.

"How did you do that?" she asked raggedly, and he smiled as she lay back on her side, head in his lap, and he stroked the strands of stray hair away from her sweat-covered forehead.

"It's a secret," he said softly, looking down at her with concern as he realized she still wasn't settling.

Kagome winced again, whimpering in pain as another contraction hit. Inuyasha squeezed her hand softly. "It's okay, it'll be over soon." She shook her head, trying to get up. Inuyasha pulled her back down as she struggled against him.

"Please, Inuyasha…" The half-demon frowned.

"I don't know what it is you want…I can't do anything for you…" Kagome turned her head slightly as she relaxed back into his arms, looking over to the cradle where her screaming son was lying. Inuyasha suddenly realized what she wanted. "You can't hold him now, there's another-"

"-Please…Inuyasha…" she whimpered as she felt another contraction approaching, "I haven't even seen him yet…they wouldn't even let me hold him before…" she trailed off, screaming again, and Inuyasha looked up to Rin as she came back to their side.

Checking the next baby's process, Rin met his eyes after. "Okay, this is gonna happen now." Inuyasha looked nervously from Kagome to the cradle, to Kagome again. "What?"

"I want to let her hold him…"

"What?"

"It might make it easier on her…" The dark-haired-woman looked down at Kagome, who was too far out of it to hear what they were saying.

"After. Let me get her through this, it won't take a moment, I promise," halfheartedly, Inuyasha nodded his ascent, and Rin reassumed her position. "Kagome? Kagome, can you hear me?" she asked, as Inuyasha pulled the pained girl up against his chest. Kagome nodded slowly, her breathing ragged and punctured with whimpers of pain. "Just like before okay, bare down into the pain, and then you can hold your baby, I promise." Kagome opened her eyes slightly, and then nodded, squeezing Inuyasha's hand tight, as I he was going to disappear any moment now.

Not really knowing what was going on, or if it was actually happening, Kagome too far exhausted and agonized to realize she was pushing another baby out of her, just did as she was told, just wanting it all to be over. She screamed as she felt another contraction and pushed down and she felt something slide free of her.

Inuyasha looked down with concern as Kagome collapsed against him, looking as if she may have passed out, and then at Rin, worried that he hadn't heard the baby cry. "It's okay, the baby is a lot smaller than usual, which is why it was quicker." Inuyasha nodded slightly, looking back to the exhausted girl on his lap. Rin got up, after cleaning Kagome up, taking the new baby over to do the same. Inuyasha pulled out from under Kagome and rested her head back against the furs, pulling the bloodstained blanket off the bed, and replacing it, pulling it over Kagome who hadn't even opened her eyes, though he could tell from her raspy, rapid breathing that she wasn't asleep.

Slowly the half demon leant over the cradle, pulling his screaming son into his arms. Looking down at him he noted the tear-stained hazel orbs like his mother's, (a little startled at seeing them open so soon), but the silver hair and puppy ears like his own, and demonic crests (more like Sesshomaru's than his own) on his cheeks, before he carried him over to the nearly unconscious Kagome on the bed. The exhausted girl opened her eyes weakly, when she heard him approach, receiving a smile from her mate, and looked up at him with wide, glassy eyes as she saw the bundle in his arms.

"Wanna hold him?" Kagome nodded almost frantically, and he leant down, sliding the baby under the blankets and into her arms, then lying down behind her, pulling his arms round her as he watched her try weakly to pull the baby close to her. Inuyasha smiled awkwardly, and helped her hold the baby against her slowly calming chest.

The girl traced her fingers over the blanket her son was wrapped in, pulling it back so she could see his face. Inuyasha eased as he saw the indescribable look on her pale face, all he could think of was that he knew she was happy. His eyes felt heavy as he leant back slightly, not realizing he was starting to drift into a doze. He didn't get very far into sleep before he heard her whispering something, and he opened his eyes once more to watch tears falling down her cheeks.

"Inuyasha…he's so perfect…" Inuyasha smiled, and then looked up as Rin approached.

"Kagome?" Kagome looked up as well as Rin spoke, and the woman smiled down at her. "Do you want to hold your daughter?"

Kagome looked up at her with wide, confused eyes, and then at Inuyasha, and he nodded slowly, as if assuring her it wasn't her imagination. His mate turned back to Rin, and nodded slowly, watching the woman to which he now owed so much to, set the baby in the bed beside her brother, letting her family see her for the first time.

The little girl yawned as her father pulled the blanket round her as well, and Kagome and Inuyasha looked over their daughter. The little girl was very like her brother, having puppy ears as well, and silver hair, though not having the marks on her cheeks as her brother did, making her resemble her father almost exactly, (not knowing her specific eye-colour just yet, since unlike her brother's they had yet to open), whereas the boy looked a little like a cross between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, but with Kagome's eyes.

"There're two…?" Inuyasha smiled at her, and stroked her hair softly back behind her ear as it began to stray.

"Yeah, no wonder you were so damn big." She offered him a mock scolding gaze.

"They're so beautiful, Inuyasha…" he nodded, not able to manage words. He didn't know how deep the damage from the traumatic events of that evening ran in Kagome, but right now she seems perfectly placid, and happy, as he hadn't seen her for a long time, though he supposed that could be down to exhaustion. "Thank you," he said to Rin, and the woman nodded at him with a smile.

TBC

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A/N: WOOT! Twins! I hope you're all pleased with the outcome, and will give me some nice reviews so I update XD I will update as soon as possible, 'Kay? Love ya all!

R&R

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	18. 18 Blaze Of The Crimson Sun

Author's Note:

To **Hezaa-san** -- You asked for the lemon(s) I had to take out but since you're not a member I cannot find your email or reply to you. Also, for some reason this website doesnt let you write your email in a message or anything. In any case, I would be glad to send the unedited lemon to you but you will have to send me a message entitled "FACE OF A MIRACLE" or similar to kaoru_ -- (I hope that is visible - seems to sulk when you write your email here lol).

To **Horsechick** -- although you're a member you dont have 'reply' or 'private message' enabled on your account so I cannot get your email either. Please email me with a message entitled "FACE OF A MIRACLE" to kaoru_ so I can send you them - thankies! x

I've finally plotted out whats gonna happen at the end, and its not gonna be long now, maybe 2-4 chapters left, which is sad, since I've really enjoyed writing for you guys, and loved your comments and CONSTANT support *hugs you all* neways, i'm not gone yet, so please and enjoy and review!

**Sorry, didnt have time to proof-read this one XD**

Enjoy and review please *chu*

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Blaze Of The Crimson Sun

Eighteen

Kagome was stumped. The little girl sleeping soundly, curled against her side would remain nameless for a while longer it seemed, and her son, who had yet to cease his crying since his sister bopped him hard on the nose wasn't much better off. The once-priestess had assumed she was expecting a boy, and hence had come up with a name for him, although now she'd seen him, she'd decided against it. And although Inuyasha indulged her in this 'name-game', Kagome could tell by his vacant expression that this wasn't the main crisis at hand…

Inuyasha sighed, dropping the small boy back into his mother's arms; he couldn't silence him, not when there was so much going on aside from this. His mother's death, the battle, and Katsura…they were all problems he needed to deal with, but right now, all he wanted to do is close his eyes and wait for it all to go away. Sesshomaru had confined Rin, Kagome and the pups to the cave for safety, and posted guards for their protection, however, with Lord Inu-no-Taishou still recovering from his wounds, Inuyasha couldn't stay in hiding much longer – he needed to be on the battlefield, without the Tetsusaiga at their side, his father and brother would be cut down.

"Inuyasha?" The half-demon snapped from his thoughts, turning to gaze upon his family. "Something is… What's the matter, something's happened, or is _going _to happen – something bad…" He looked away once more, not able to look at her when he spoke.

"Yeah…I…Listen, Kagome I…when you were taken, I went to find you but…when I got there…" He paused, claws biting into the bedding, urging his words to be untrue. "My…My mother was…dead…"

The words struck her, cutting into her. It was like death had shot towards her and smacked her across the face with that sudden statement. Izayoi couldn't be dead – she was part of her world, without it…it just wasn't the world anymore. Tears swelled in her eyes, cascading down her cheeks. "D-Dead…? S-She can't be dead…she…" The once-priestess lost her voice to the brewing misery, and Inuyasha leant over, capturing the hand that wasn't cradling their son between his.

"Oh gods I'm sorry, was I right to tell you?" She nodded, resting their finally sleeping baby down beside his sister, before leaping into Inuyasha's arms, crying into his chest.

"I…I just…" she sobbed against him, "she took care of me…she doted on me as if I was…" she trailed off, sensing that telltale silence in Inuyasha. Kagome ceased her cries, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand defiantly as she sat up, and sure enough when she met those eyes she loved so much, they held shameful, unshed tears, which never fell.

The half-demon smirked despite himself, petting her untidy hair affectionately, distracting his ashamed gaze from her eyes. "She did see you as a daughter," he assured her, finishing her sentence for her. "I suppose you _were _her daughter in a sense," he muttered, trying to sound casual, but failing miserably. He fell silent, as did Kagome – she didn't know what to say to him, and she felt all the more miserable for it. This was the man she loved and she couldn't find the words to comfort him when he lost the most treasured person in his life – for Inuyasha could say that Izayoi doted on her, but in all truth, it was Inuyasha that doted on his mother…

"…_it would kill me if something happened to Inuyasha. He isn't just my son…because he was part human he didn't fit with demons, but because he was part demon he didn't fit with humans. He didn't fit anywhere because of his blood, and I didn't fit anywhere because I was Inu-no-Taishou's mate…so, we fit together…"_

Kagome fought to keep her desperate tears from spilling once more, recalling Izayoi's words from that very dark time not so long ago. And she appreciated then, as she had never taken the time to before, how identical Inuyasha's emotions must be compared to Izayoi's. Except, to Inuyasha, this was a woman who had struggled all these years to offer him comfort in a world that wanted him dead, and even though he didn't necessarily need her protection or motherly idealistic assurances, it tore him to shreds to know that he could never have it again in this world that hated him so thoroughly. Kagome gnawed her lip, and here was Inuyasha, _her _Inuyasha, who had saved her in every possible way, needed saving, and she didn't know how to do it…

"I couldn't save her…" she muttered bleakly, avoiding her mate's eyes. Inuyasha's gaze snapped to her in shock at her guilty tone. "S-She…she died protecting us," the once-priestess cast a glance to the snoozing pups curled into her side, the girl's clawless thumb in her mouth. "And I just stood there…like a helpless idiot – like _always_, waiting for someone to protect me – to help me – to save me, and like _always_…" she muttered, a shuddering gasp interrupting her words as she tried desperately not to cry. "Someone died because of me…"

Inuyasha growled, seizing her shoulders roughly. "Again with this? It's the same guilt for your own parents isn't it? You _aren't_ weak – you were in pre-labour, how could you have used your priestess powers-"

"-I couldn't have used them anyway," she interrupted, her voice almost silent, still not looking at him. Inuyasha stopped, eyes slightly wide, stunned.

"I…" he muttered, "I'm so…I should have told you my suspicions before I allowed you to go through with our mating ceremony, I-"

"_Allow _me? _'Allow me'_?" she repeated, her voice louder this time. "You think I didn't know about the 'risks'? You think I would be a priestess at all without realising the things that 'could' take my powers away?"

Inuyasha seemed slightly shocked at her outburst, releasing his hold on her, staring, again, stunned.

"Y-You-"

"-I've been a priestess for 3 years," she interrupted once more, loud enough to distinguish the anger in her voice, quiet enough to not disturb the little ones. "And in training to be one a lot longer than that… I've been taught things that…" she grit her teeth, unable to make sense of what she was trying to say. "I can lose my powers if I lose my purity – why _else _do you think every priestess you encounter that goes by the book is a virgin?" Inuyasha's face remained impassive, but his next words were full of self-loathing.

"So…so it _is _my fault…"

"No!" she answered, inadvertently repeating the same words to Inuyasha as she did to Izayoi. "Losing my purity isn't the same as losing my virginity. The priests started rumours that to…_sleep _with a demon or part demon took those gifts away, but that wasn't true, it was a lie, a fraud to prevent…_mixed breeding_…" She cringed at the words, though found no other way to explain it.

"I can only lose my powers if I forsake them or if I…" Inuyasha frowned at her loathsome expression as her voice faded out, touching her hand skittishly.

"What?" he asked, "What is it?" She wet her lips apprehensively.

"If I…I _feel _impure…" Inuyasha frowned. "By feeling dirty after…_sexual _acts," she finished, blushing, and her mortified scent flaring in Inuyasha's nostrils.

"So…so I made you-"

"-Not you," Kagome cut him off quickly, "Katsura…"

It was then, that _anger _flared inside Inuyasha. These past months the couple had managed to suppress the evil demon and his acts against her, but now, it all effervesced to the surface, simmering and searing like some boiling concoction of fury inside them. And Inuyasha had to do something.

"Listen," he muttered, livid, though his voice unnaturally calm. Kagome frowned as he caught her by her shoulders once more, meeting her eyes. "Father is wounded and, Sesshōmaru is leading the assault against the revolutionaries." Kagome seized his hand on her shoulder, realising what he was about to say before he'd finished. "You, and the pups and Rin are safe here," he continued, his voice insisting, as she opened her mouth to answer, "I _have _to go to the frontline, if I don't, Sesshōmaru will fall, and so will my father's castle."

The tears brewed within her eyes again, though she fought against them. "I know…" she muttered, "I know it's selfish to want you to stay… but I… if you die… I don't know what I'll do…" His eyes widened, but no sooner had he gone to reply, than Kagome spoke again. "Our son and daughter will never meet their grandmother – don't make them lose their father as well…"

"Kagome-"

"-I know," his mate muttered softly, leaning forward to press her forehead against his, breathing him in heartily. "I know you have to go…"

"My mother is dead – if my brother, and my father, and the lands they love so much burn, I'll never forgive myself – I'm not going to let my pups grow up without their grandfather or uncle – _or _their father, okay?" she smiled sadly, butterfly kisses fluttering over his lips, before she drew back to soak him in carefully. "I want to give them the chance to grow up happily, and see the world to its full beautiful potential."

"I know…and I know you have to go…I know you'll save everyone…I have faith in you…" He offered her a final kiss, brushing the backs of his claws affectionately over his sleeping children, before departing slowly; casting glances back to his family occasionally.

"I'll be back for you!" he called back to her, before disappearing out of sight. She sighed softly, laying back and curling her body around her son and daughter, crystal tears streaming down her cheeks, falling to the blankets surrounding her and her children.

"I know…" she whispered, "I know you won't…"

***

The crimson sun flaring above the wasteland seemed to scream along with the cries of battle below. Fangs and claws tore into flesh, swords, arrows, blades met armour, slicing through the reflective, battle worn metal and into the bodies within. Demon met demon, and all in aid of what they believed was right, they slaughtered each other like animals.

Blood oozed from pale flesh, staining crisp silver hair, Sesshōmaru wincing in agony, though no cry escaping his lips. His back bowed under the blow to the back his head, and he dropped to his knees, the searing agony burning through his body. He glanced around through his suddenly hazy vision, he was glad his father couldn't see him now, brought to his knees by a mere days battle. The cold exterior he'd maintained almost all his life faltered under the pain, and he cried out at last, turning his agonised body at last, knocking the attacking demon's feet out from under him, tearing the life from him with poised claws.

A transformation into his true form was impossible with this many of his _own _soldiers surrounding him, he'd have to struggle on, and fumble for victory in this form, with the claws and fangs from his father, and the poison from his mother to seize it.

Agonised screams reached his slightly pointed ears, drawing his attention toward the centre of the battle, to where Katsura's triumphant gaze shone glaringly through blood as he tore through his enemies. And Sesshōmaru snarled, leaping towards the man that had torn his, his father's and his little brother's life upside down. People like Katsura, reminded the demon painfully of how bitter and twisted the world truly was, and when he finally reached him, Sesshomaru's claws flexed with the yearning, to bathe the earth with the traitor's blood, and with it show the world how it could be without all this…_needless _suffering…

"Lord Sesshōmaru," Katsura acknowledged him with an air of feigned politeness. Sesshōmaru sneered.

"Spare me the fake amiability you little fool," he growled, "I'll slay you like the worthless beast you are – take you apart piece by piece, and make you beg for death before I watch my poison eat away your stone heart for what you have done to those I care for." That sickeningly smug smirk was at Katsura's lips again.

"And for that little human whore of your father? Show you _her _any honour or revenge?" he goaded, "The woman you always hated, and yet swore to protect her son?" Sesshōmaru again sneered at him.

"Lady Izayoi was a noble woman – who was deserving of a hundred lifetimes, should she enrich the world with such caring that it scarcely sees."

Katsura let out a hearty laugh. "This? Lord Sesshōmaru offering such 'fuzzy', 'idealistic' images of a perfect world? You are becoming your father, _boy_." The demon remained impassive to the irritating laughter. "What has inspired such a revelation?"

"A result of years of battle, and that battle finally coming to an end – and the approach of peace…" The smirk returned.

"Confident, considering you can barely stand – _My Lord_…"

"This Sesshōmaru will not be brought down by a traitorous maggot such as yourself."

Katsura seemed not to register his words, eyes scanning the battlefield carefully, before turning his attention back to Inu-no-Taishou's heir.

"The _Great _Lord Inu-no-Taishou absent from battle I see," he noted, and Sesshōmaru tipped his head to the side slightly, face untouched by emotion or pain.

"He has gone to your master," he uttered simply, raising his claws in gesture for their battle to begin, poison hissing from their tips. Katsura sneered this time.

"He may be a formidable foe, but with those wounds he will perish easily under _My _lord's hand – and you," he added, advancing towards Sesshōmaru confidently, swinging his sword slightly with his right hand. "_You_ will scream for mercy, as I cut _you _apart, piece by piece, and squealing like the _dog _you are when your _dear _brother watches you fall."

Sesshōmaru frowned, turning as Katsura gestured over his shoulder, golden eyes widening with a mix of relief and fear as he watched Inuyasha dart into the crowds of battle, not seeing him, though Tetsusaiga roaring to life in his hands. But as he turned to face his foe once more, Katsura thrust the blade in his hand through his flesh, floods of crimson staining them and the earth below their feet, and Sesshōmaru screamed. Inuyasha's gaze shot towards his brother in the battle, as if summoning him, and his eyes widened in horror. _No…it can't… _He leapt forwards, shoving those around him roughly from his path, regardless of whose side they were on. "NO!!! SESSHŌMARU!!!"

TBC

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A/N: DUM DUM DUM DUM! *DODGES FLYING FRUIT* Okay I'm dead after that cliffie aint I? *gulps* Sorry for the delay, and for the short chappie to boot, hopefully the next will be longer. Hope you enjoyed, please review nnicely *hugs you all* R&R *chu*

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	19. 19 Instil Morality, The End Of Days

Author's Note:

Well, sorry for the extreme delay in updating this, I really struggled on this one, I really wanted to get it right, so hopefully you guys arent too mad at the delay, it's here now, and hopefully it wont be that long again. I'm going to keep steady with this til its finished, which as i've said, wont be long now. Thanks for wonderful reviews, and readers, i love you all, as ever, and hope you like the chapter. (since I know you're all itching to find out what happens to the most smexy brothers in anime XD).

Thankies for all reviews! Hope you enjoy, and review please!

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Instil Morality; The End Of Days

Nineteen

Kagome felt her heart clench in her chest as she laid her sleeping son into the nook she'd created with the furs, tucking the blankets snugly around him and his sister gently. _I didn't even get to give you names, _she thought sadly, stepping back slightly, and gazing upon her children with a tortured realisation that she could not delay her departure any longer if she hoped to carry out what must be done.

Mere moments after she'd watched her mate disappear from her sight from what she knew to be the last time, a disembodying strength brewed somewhere deep within, seizing her weak, frail body. Her skin had practically hummed with the tingling sensations of power coursing through helpless veins. The sheer pure intensity almost stung, ears ringing slightly, even now, as she stood there, partially unwilling to do what must be done. Her priestess powers had returned, and with them, her resolve to finish this, once and for all.

Her hand trembling slightly, Kagome placed the hastily scribbled note on the side of her children, turning with weighted steps. "Lady Kagome?" A wheezy surprised gasp sounded, and she jumped, nearly colliding with Rin, who was standing before her. "Where are you-"

"-Listen, I've seen things – I _know _where to go, I know what's happening out there to the people we love – and I'm the only one that can stop it!" Rin looked confused, even a little scared.

"But your children are-"

"-I…If I don't go…they won't have a world to grow up in – and if the western lands fall, they'll spend their lives in hiding – in fear, I can't let them suffer that…" A tormenting silence fell between the two women, who had recently been brought together through their shared trials.

"B-But," Rin said shakily, interrupting the deafening quiet, "if you and Inuyasha don't-

"-If both of us don't come back…you'll protect them – raise them, take care of them, I beg of you," she muttered weightily, though in hastened whispers, trying not to think of the outcome if she didn't come back. "Make sure they're never alone – promise me?" Rin nodded unsurely after a few lengthy moments, still watching the obsidian haired priestess carefully.

"But where are you-"

"-There's no time," Kagome cut her off, casting another regretful look at the sleeping infants, "they'll cry when they wake up," she muttered quietly, barely audible, "they'll want me or Inuyasha…if you cant calm them, wrap Inuyasha's kimono round them, the scent will send them off…"

A slender hand rested on Rin's shoulder, and the woman regarded Kagome with a frightened look, that begged her to reconsider. "I hope to see you again," the priestess said, voice weighed down with heavy sorrow. "I don't know if our boys will come back but…if either of them does, I know you'll offer all the support I may not be here to give." This said, Kagome turned, releasing Rin at the last possible moment, walking from the secluded safety of the cave.

Striding with shaky steps into the glaring, painful sun, Kagome raised her head at last, her dark gaze meeting fiery crimson eyes. The creature purred dolefully, as Kagome's fingers skittered over her light fur, as she clambered onto the cat-demon's back. The feline offered a reassuring growl, awaiting the girl to settle securely on her back, fully comprehending what was happening.

"Come on, Kilala," the priestess muttered, holding onto the fire-cat's fur at her neck gently. "Let's go." Not an instant passed after those words. Before she could blink, wind rushed in her ears, whipping obsidian hair back behind her, as the ground fell away swiftly, the red sky greeting her with a foreboding wash of unnatural colour. "You know where to go, Kilala." The demon seemed to nod in answer, completely comprehending the plan her friend held.

***

White silk was splattered with crimson blood, Sesshomaru crashing to his knees. His golden eyes looked blearily up at Katsura's bloodstained sword which shimmering ominously under the blood – his own blood. His vision wavered, body swaying before he toppled sideways, with all the lack of grace which seemed so unlike him to show. Blackness crept across his eyes, feeling the sounds, the battle, the pain ebbing ever so slowly away. The blood flowing from the vicious wound that tore his left arm from his body, the loss of the fluid seeming to be swiftly drawing him away with it. His brows twitched at the seemingly distant sound of his brother's tortured voice, and he gazed up. Still Katsura stood over him, triumphant, his sword rising once more.

"NO!!!" The scream tore through the air, and Sesshomaru tried to move, tried to say something, though merely choked on the blood beginning to regurgitate in his throat as he watched and felt Inuyasha leap over his body, putting himself between the sword and Sesshomaru. The blade ripped into the half-demon's shoulder, and though blood stained the fire-rat hitoe, Inuyasha merely snarled, seizing the sword and pulling it from his wounded shoulder, tossing it aside as he advanced on Katsura.

"You stinkin' bastard," Inuyasha growled, a harsh tone that carried the sound of his inner-demon, though he was still very much half-demon – merely raging with fury. "You have no limits do you…?" Clawed fingers groped for Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha's gaze never wavering from Katsura. "I promised myself I'd kill you quick and mercifully – that I wouldn't lose myself to the extermination of your stinkin' hide…" He raised his father's sword, the glaring crimson sun reflecting forebodingly in the blade. "But I'm gonna make it last. You're gonna beg for death before I have the _mercy _of sending you to hell. You'll pay for hurting the people I care about…" Again, that tinge of 'Demon Inuyasha' reached his voice – but that was all it reached.

That horribly confident laugh shudder down Inuyasha's spine, but he wasn't afraid. His father had always kept him from real battle. He had once thought it was to preserve his life, but only recently had he realised, it was to preserve the naïve innocence that Sesshomaru lacked. Inuyasha hadn't even killed a _spider_ before now, yet here he stood, with all the blood-lust and hunger to bite, to rip, to tear this _insect _apart until he was nothing resembling what he was now. His insides burned with the desire to feel Katsura's life choked from his body under his own hands. For the first time in his life, Inuyasha harboured an unconquerable hatred he'd never known before, and with all his being – with all the misery of losing his mother, and Sesshomaru – of Kagome being tortured, and his father's near-death, he wanted to obey that thirst, and kill and kill, until his own body died…

Katsura was still laughing – was still amused. "You can't kill me, _boy_," he barked, claws flexing dangerously. "I was an old demon _long _before you were ever even _conceived_…I served your father – _and _Sesshomaru's mother, long before the Great Lord Inu-no-Taishou, was rendered and simpering fool by a mortal _whore_, and his lands fell prey to unfounded, idealistic believes of _equality_-"

"BASTARD!" Inuyasha screamed, his voice and Tetsusaiga cutting off Katsura's words, the fang shooting forwards, slicing the demon across the face viciously. Katsura winced, glaring at the half-demon whose face bore a pleased smirk. "My mother was a Lady – she was a _princess_, and I'll take you piece at a time to avenge her death, and my brother's…" The filthy glare receded into that same revolting smirk once more, creasing Katsura's pale face.

"How noble," he acknowledged sarcastically, "pity you yourself will greet them in death, before you succeed." Again, Tetsusaiga shifted slightly in its master's grasp, as if agreeing with Inuyasha's words before he'd even spoken.

"You wanna bet?"

It happened so suddenly, that for a brief moment Inuyasha didn't know what had happened – the blow that Katsura threw himself into swiftly, slamming his fist across Inuyasha's jaw, relishing in the half-demon's frantic expression as he stumbled out of the way, the claws previously paused to tear his throat out merely grazing his cheek. Inuyasha twisted his body swiftly, spinning to face the demon, raising the blade to strike – too slow. Katsura shot towards him, claws raking into Inuyasha's wrist. A tortured howl resounded, the arm that held Tetsusaiga quivering in agony, as the claws in his flesh sank deeper with a vicious hunger, twisting slightly to cause him more pain.

"All these years…" Katsura growled in his ear, foul breath steaming onto Inuyasha's face, making him wince. "I watched that pathetic half-demon hide of yours flourish as Inu-no-Taishou's lapdog – a pet more than a son, and all that time…how I wanted to slice you to ribbons for bringing down the mightiest lord that has ever been…" Inuyasha snarled his free hand launching towards Katsura's throat, his own claws biting nastily into flesh. His fangs glistened with the disturbing desire to taste blood. The half-demon winced at the notion, throwing Katsura backwards, sending the demon flying into the dirt, spluttering for breath and clutching his throat.

Tetsusaiga dropped from Inuyasha's hand, the half-demon clutching his bleeding wrist to his chest, approaching the murderer still in the dirt. Crimson flashed across his vision, the demon brewing to the surface, lurking like a savage creature in the shadowed depths of his soul. The darkness whispered in his ear, and a smirk reached his lips, Katsura frowning – for the first time unnerved, as Inuyasha shook his head, seemingly at nothing in particular. He'd seen Inuyasha's demon side, he'd suffered by its cruel, sadistic hands, and there, he swore was a foe to be feared. No remorse, no guilt, no desire at all except to kill, and kill some more, until there was no breath left in his lungs.

"No," muttered Inuyasha under his breath, seemingly talking to himself. "I want to watch him die with _my _eyes, want to kill him with _half-demon_ claws and fangs," his voice still bore the raspy danger of his demonic blood, and yet, his eyes remained gold, cheeks unmarked by the crests his inner-demon possessed. "I don't need you, not anymore… Go away." Katsura's eyes widened, sure this fresh deranged fury had driven the brat mad, his approach causing him to scramble on all fours towards a blade lying carelessly nearby.

A scream tore free from his throat, staring up at Inuyasha with enraged agony. At this, Inuyasha smirked again, with that same demonic malice that didn't look right on his face, grinding his heel with unbearable force into the already broken fingers that had mere moments before been reaching for the sword to kill him with. "You're _wrong_…" Katsura gritted his teeth, no sound uttering past his lips – until…

"W-What're you-"

"-You're wrong about me – about _everything_. You may be older but I've realised things in two-hundred years that you could _never _come to understand in the two-_thousand-_years of your pitiful life…" He leant down; foot still crushing Katsura's hand nastily, though his words shuddering into Katsura's ear, his fangs dangerously close…

"Your followers are going to watch you fall to your knees before a _half­-_demon, and they'll know, that _Lord Inuyasha_ of the western lands gutted you like the slimy serpent you are – for screwing with his family." Inuyasha straightened up, slamming his heel with a final crack, Katsura howling in pain. As suddenly as the cry sounded than it was silenced – Inuyasha's other foot shot up, smashing into Katsura's nose and sending him skidding across the dirt. The battle around them seemed slowly to halt, the warriors looking on with a mix of fear and interest, neither side sure what to. But Inuyasha didn't care.

Katsura sat up as swiftly as his agonised body could manage, cradling his wounded hand to himself, watching the savage hunger on Inuyasha's face, and recoiling – afraid for the first time in his life. Leisurely, the half-demon approached, claws flexing slowly, a slow torturous advance, enhanced by that still venomous smirk. "Half-demons are powerful – I told you that once… You hate me, you _fear _me – that stink of fear is because I'm a _half­_-demon, and I'm stronger than you…" He growled, a dangerous, foreboding flair to his words. "And I say it again… When your body is nothing but ash, Kagome and I will be happy, together, and the memory with you, will be nothing…it won't _even _exist…"

Suddenly, the last few steps between them were spanned swiftly, the half-demon leaping into a crouch before Katsura, who was rigid with fear. Again, Inuyasha's smirk broadened, gaze flickering to the broken, bleeding fingers of Katsura's right hand. "You know what fingers those are, don't you?" he snarled venomously. "You touched _My mate _with those stinkin', tainted fingers…" Before Katsura could even take in those words, Inuyasha's hand shot forwards, the fingers on his left hand making a sickening snap, as they were forced backward in a way they shouldn't have been.

"HALF-DEMON'S ARE POWERFUL!" Inuyasha screamed, his voice causing several members of the halted war around them to jump, drowning out the tortured cries of the person that held almost all the responsibility for making his life an utter misery. "All of us are powerful, and we're part of the world too – we shouldn't have to fight each other to share this world!" He released the demon's hand, again, Katsura shrinking backwards, hugging his broken limbs close to him. "You touched my mate, my son with those hands, and now you've reaped the 'rewards'."

"P-Please – NO-" Inuyasha cut him off, claws sinking into his throat, sneering at the blood that oozed from the wounds, though not releasing him, his grip tightening, causing the demon to choke violently, struggling for air.

"Listen to me – LISTEN TO ME! He insisted, repeating himself when the spluttering persisted. "You beg me – you DARE beg me? Do you know? Do you even _possess _a number high enough for the amount of times I lied in my bed _begging _for this all to stop? For the times I cried as a child for some form of peace? Pleaded to be accepted, to be considered part of the world?" Katsura stared up at him with wide, horrified eyes, his blood staining Inuyasha's hand as he failed to release him. Now it was Inuyasha that stared back, with all the fiery intensity as if he had transformed, though he hadn't – that flash of crimson would never cross his eyes again – he knew that now.

"And _you _did that…didn't you?" Katsura didn't answer, and Inuyasha growled under his breath. "You did that to me, a child, I didn't ask to be born, I didn't _ask _to be a half-demon – but you know what? You went out of your way to make me regret that I was, didn't you?" Again, there was no answer save for the eerie silence of the still battlefield, and the demon beneath his mercy's agonised spluttering. "Well let me be the one to say, you _failed_… My mother was a human, my father was a demon, and they loved each other – they had me – I'm a half-demon – My pups are part of each and you know what? I'm _glad_, because unlike you…" He paused; allowing his words to sink into his victim's dying mind. "I have people who love me…"

At last, he released him, standing up straight over him, wiping his blood from his claws with a sickened grimace, not even looking at him as the blood pooled around his feet, the life fading from his face as he bled to death, horrified eyes fixed on his murderer – and Inuyasha didn't care, though he would, he knew he would. Katsura was the first person he'd ever killed, and though he deserved it, he could feel the throbbing guilt already settling its weight in his chest. It hurt, so much so he couldn't even bear to watch what he knew were the foul creature's last breaths in the world, turning his back to him. "Karma's a bitch," he muttered to the demon viciously, still not looking at him, "the vile things you do always come back you bite you in the ass…"

Bitter tears brewed in golden orbs, but not for Katsura. Hate himself though he might for killing (which was ironic considering his demonic heritage) he wasn't brought to his knees by such a thing. He kneeled down in the dirt, fingers skittishly moving toward his brother's still form, unsure whether he wanted to touch him – whether he _could _touch him. Misery overcoming the guilt-ridden triumph within him, he pulled his brother into his arms, gnawing his lip to prevent the tears from spilling, and staring down at his blood-stained face.

His free hand reached shakily forwards, brushing bloody bangs from his brother's forehead. Suddenly he jumped, his hand snapping back in surprise as his brother's form shuddered as Sesshomaru drew in a heavy, shattered breath. Crimson eyelids fluttered, until older, golden eyes stared up at him with the same brilliant complacency they always had. "Se-Sesshomaru?!" he gasped, not willing to believe his eyes. Sesshomaru drew in another breath, each inhalation easier than the last, though his usually emotionless face contorted with a pained grimace. "Are you-"

"-Alright? Hardly," Sesshomaru muttered sardonically, sitting up slowly, his right arm hovering over what remained of his left. "I do not believe this wound is beyond healing – though it will take decades for it to grow back as it was before. I have a lot of blood to recover, until then, I am afraid I will be unable to battle." Inuyasha flashed him a smirk, helping his brother to his feet.

"Well, I don't know for certain but…I don't think you'll need to." They looked around, the once spectators now straying from their positions around them, and streaking off, stooping to inspect their fallen comrades – evidently assessing whether they were wounded or dead.

"Do you think it's over?" Inuyasha asked, a distinct hopefulness to his voice, though Sesshomaru didn't look at him when he replied.

"Father has yet to return," he said, and by the weight pressing with a restrained anxiety, Inuyasha knew that meant it was a mission from which Sesshomaru didn't think his wounded father would return. "He has gone after the leader of the revolutionaries – to finish this once and for all." Inuyasha wet his lips nervously, staring at his brother who was lost in uncertainty, something he had never seen before.

"You think he won't succeed?" At last, Sesshomaru turned to face him, meeting his eyes.

"I know he will… But I fear, with his injuries…that he will die trying."

There was a pause, in which they held each other's gaze, and within that short silence, they seemed to draw the same conclusion.

"Let's go," said Inuyasha, "if we hurry we may get to Father before he gets himself kill-" He cut off, and for a moment, Sesshomaru couldn't register why, until he watched his baby brother lower his eyes, both of them gazing at the blood staining the fire-rat kimono area his stomach, and the blade that remained there, that had run him clean through.

Inuyasha met his eyes, the golden orbs widened with shock, staring into his as if pleading for his help, though for once, Sesshomaru was lost, not fully comprehending anything for that brief moment. Clawed fingers knotted into his kimono, and Inuyasha collapsed forwards onto him, Sesshomaru's only remaining arm capturing him before he plummeting to the unforgiving earth. "No…" he muttered, staring down at the blood seeping from his brother's parted lips. "No… Inuyasha… No!" His voice was panicked for the first time in his life, as he sank to the earth, bringing his brother's slightly quivering form with him. His head shot up, staring this time at the glistening blade that had stabbed his brother, and the demon that held it. A sneer met his face, and he shot to his feet, abandoning Inuyasha to seize the sword from Katsura, who could barely stand, and raised the blade, bringing it across in one raging blow. The body of the wretched demon fell to the ground, separate from his head.

Within a flash, the Heir of Inu-no-Taishou was on his knees this time gathering Inuyasha to his chest as best he could with one arm, the boy's body shaking furiously. Inuyasha's hand clamped over his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding, panicking and coughing hard. "Inuyasha-"

"-S-Sess…shomaru…" he managed, "what's h-happening…?"

"Inuyasha," Sesshomaru repeated, gazing from his little brother's face to the wound, panicked again, not sure what to do. "It is alright, you'll be fine – we just have to-"

"-T-This is – I don't – I don't want to die!" he gasped, free hand clawing the back of his brother's kimono in desperation. "I tried – I tried to be like you, like Dad, but I…I don't want to go – I'm scared – I admit it – I don't want to die!" Sesshomaru felt his chest ache with an indistinguishable feeling he'd never felt before, at the sight of his brother reduced to nothing more than a frightened child. And he still didn't know what to say.

"It is alright," he repeated, as softly and steady as he could, "You are losing a lot of blood, you will just…just close your eyes, and go to sleep for little while…" For the first time since in his memory, tears pricked the backs of his eyes, and he paused trying to keep his voice steady. "And when you open your eyes again, you will see Kagome, and those pups of yours – It will be alright, Inuyasha…" His voice broke off, and he continued to watch him, frowning with glassy eyes as Inuyasha offered him a bloody smirk, his body stilling.

"T-Thanks… Brother," the half-demon managed, still gazing up at him. Sesshomaru frowned in confusion, and Inuyasha continued. "F-For the lie… Look after the pups and Kagome…for me…" The claws that had been unknowingly grating into his back fell slack, the smile fading from blood-stained lips, and Sesshomaru drew in a confused, shaky breath as he watched golden eyes flutter closed.

***

A clawed hand clasped to his wounded, armour-clad side, his dignified movements betraying the agony that impaired his walking. He was alright – he'd won battles in worse shape – why he was on the verge of death in the battle against Lord Takemaru. _Then again_, he thought, the building from which his sons had rescued those they cared for, not so long ago. _Sesshomaru aided me in that battle… _It mattered little, however. He knew he'd defeat whatever lay beyond the great doors that suddenly lay before him, he _had _to and that was all there was to it.

And so it was alone – without Inuyasha and Sesshomaru – without Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga at his side, that he threw his weight into the doors, the wood flying forwards and open, permitting his entry. A small smirk played at the corners of his mouth; Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were on the battlefield, fighting for the people they cared about. _Yes, even Sesshomaru_, he thought his smirk broadening as he advanced into the dimness ahead. And far from ashamed or disappointed that they were not there to help him, he was…_proud _that they were fighting for each other – fighting for the end of these cruel, harsh days.

TBC

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A/N: Likey? ALOT of cliffhangers in there ne? I'm sorry, I thought I could go further with InuT's scene and make it longer, this chapter was only around 11 MS Word pages long *sigh* nevermind though, you get two chapter updates today :) Neways, lots of yummy reviews and I will update asap so you can find out who I kill off *ducks flying vegetation* Okay now stop that, how am I supposed to tell my Mum I've got a concussion from virtual flying fruit? Lol. But at least He-Who-Now-Has-No-Head is dead at last rofl. Neways, reviews wonderful readers, hope ya liked! And see ya next week ^_^

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	20. 20 Haunting Eyes

Author's Note:

Sorry, didnt have time to proof-read, so sorry for mistakes, and i think I spelt the sword's damn name wrong all the way through but feh! XD Hope ya like the chappie anyways - **The next chapter will be the last.**

Enjoy and review pwease ^.^

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Haunting Eyes

Twenty

The cold darkness billowed around him, causing silver hair and the furs draped over his shoulders to sway slightly, as did his footsteps, as that cold, unwelcoming dark closed in on him, and he strode towards it. He gave a cautionary sniff of the freezing air, looking this way, then the other, though could not decipher which way to go. The scents here were disturbed, he did not know what he was even looking for within them – since he hadn't had the _pleasure _of meeting the nameless revolutionary leader before, but he knew they were here. He could smell the blood on the walls. His own blood wept from his wounds and he winced. He didn't have much time left; he'd have to move onwards, and quickly.

Clawed fingers sought the Sou'unga from his waist, and the sword glowed with an ethereal, dangerous beauty in the dark. _I'll be your eyes tonight, 'Master', _it whispered in his ear. The Dog Lord smirked, the voice almost sounded pleasant tonight, not like its usual sarcastic, blood-lusting tone. _You merely seek blood_, he responded to it, knowing the blade could hear him, even if he didn't speak aloud. _As you wish…__**Sire**__…I will show you where to go…_

Guided by the light of the sword he had carried for centuries, Inu-no-Taishou found a spiralling staircase, and, resting his free-hand on the cold, iron banister, he ascended. He winced with every step. Soon, this needed to be over with soon. _Let me take the pain, My Lord, _the sword whispered in haunting hushed tones. Inu-no-Taishou shook his head. If he gave in and opened that gate…if he allowed Sou'unga in, and allowed it to share his pain and power, he'd be consumed by it. _No._

_You do not trust me, Sire?_

_Have you done anything to warrant that trust? _

_Touché…_

He recalled the times Sou'unga had whispered in others' ears. By mistake at one point an adolescent Sesshomaru took it in hand, and near-enough destroyed him in the process. He would never forget the way Sou'unga tried to tear him apart when he'd tried to tear the sword out of Sesshomaru's grasp. After nearly losing his son that day, so too did he lose all faith in this sword. _Which is why I have not put you to use in over 200 years…_

_Indeed, _replied Sou'unga as they reached the landing, the Demon lord looking around under the light of the sword as to which way to go. _Since the battle with Lord Takemaru…defending your brood, My Lord…You thought you were going to die then as well…_

_If I die, I will take you with me, _he reminded the sword of an old promise, he would not be so foolish as to leave it in the world of greedy, contemptuous men. _Do not get any ideas of betrayal, with my fang was you forged, and by my hand will you fall into darkness if you deceive me once more. _The sword was silent, and he realised it understood, and so he pressed on.

Eventually his path was interrupted by great doors, closed, and he stared up at them with golden, suspicious eyes. _All this way with no interruptions? _The Sou'unga hissed. Inu-no-Taishou agreed with what he was saying – for once.

_Something is wrong?_

_What will you do? _The Demon Lord pondered the sword's question for a moment, eyes never leaving the doors. Thoughtfully he ran clawed fingers down the wood, and he gathered himself in the dark just then, readying himself for whatever lay beyond the door. _Such has your life always been, _Sou'unga whispered, neither sarcastic nor cynical. _Always looking to the next door, ready for what lies behind, and always prevailing… Though you do not expect to survive, do you, Sire? _Inu-no-Taishou did not answer, as he pressed his weight to the doors, and pushed. They swung open with a foreboding creak, and he winced as the all-but blinding light struck his eyes.

Unlike the rest of the forsaken castle, this room was bright and lustrous. Paved with marble and carved stone decorated what he could see was evidently a throne hall. His eyes scanned the wide expanse of the room, and he found I empty, all except for three, cloaked figures at the end of the room, two either side of the one upon the throne.

"So you have come, Lord Inu-no-Taishou," the words ushered past the middle demon's voice, whose whispers ricocheted off the walls, bombarding the Lord's ears with the all-but silent sound. Such was the hoarse, foreboding whisper that he could not determine whether it belonged to a woman or a man. And again, the scents in the room were…disturbed; he could not discern who any of them were, if indeed, he knew them at all.

Their faces hidden, Inu-no-Taishou watched them closely, discerning his plan of attack, and how to kill the middle demon without _it's _bodyguards killing him first. "I sent my entire army to meet your sons on the frontline," the voice sounded again; "I wanted to meet you alone."

_A man, _Sou'unga whispered inside his mind, _this person is a man._

_You are sure? _Inu-no-Taishou questioned, and when the answer was confirmed for him, he stared intensely at the cloaked figure, as if trying to stare straight through the hood and discover the wearer's identity.

"Show yourself," he ordered, his voice carrying through the hall in a harsh echo. "What coward hides behind a mask and two others?" He could sense the smirk riding on his enemy's lips.

"The same 'coward' that had your mate killed, and your castle attacked," the indecipherable voice responded, "the very same person who has ordered your sons to be slaughtered on the battlefield." At this Inu-no-Taishou merely smirked.

"There is no demon that could kill them when they are together, that threat will not work with me, little fool." A clear sneer came clearly across in the next words that escaped the creatures' lips.

"We shall see how much your overconfidence costs you – _'My Lord'_." At the sarcasm in that voice, Sou'unga almost seemed to swing itself menacingly. _Now, _it barked at the Demon lord, _do it now!_

"Enough," Inu-no-Taishou said at last, "of this idle gossip." He brought Sou'unga upwards, holding still for that moment, as he stared at the three before him, waiting, waiting…

Suddenly he leapt forwards, silver hair swept around him as he shot towards the three at the head of the room. The figure on the right moved in his path, and he collided with them. Sou'unga seemed to cry out in bliss at taking its first life in so long, as it sliced through its enemy. Blood ran down the reflective surface as Inu-no-Taishou drew the sword back, not stopping to watch the demon crumple to the floor. He dove forwards before the other guard could get in his way, and thrust the sword in the middle demon's chest. A strangled hoarse cry erupted into the air, and the Demon lord smirked as he drew back, watching the revolutionary leader struggled to draw his last breath, before he moved no more.

Long, clawed fingers clenched around the hilt of Sou'unga, turning with a satisfied, triumphant smile, to face the very still guard that was standing to the side, watching him. Not to his surprise, the demon did not advance or attack him. _Perhaps now that the revolutionary leader is dead, there is no reason to find us an enemy? _Sou'unga suggested, though Inu-no-Taishou silently agreed, he was not willing to take his eyes of them, just in case.

"I did not come here to kill you," he said carefully, moving backwards. "I intend to leave without your death occurring, but if you attack, I will be forced to bring it about." Only the mouth of the person was visible when he was this close, and the mouth upturned into a sinister smirk. _Something is wrong_, he thought, his grip on Sou'unga tightening.

"Lord Inu-no-Taishou, I knew you for a sentimental creature who bears love for unworthy creatures _far _below our on stature and position in the world," this voice was smooth, and dulcet, almost like… "However, I never took you for a fool, before."

Golden eyes widened, as a long, slender hand shot out of the cloak before he could blink, sword in hand, and brought the blade down towards him. All he could do was flinch, the Sou'unga seeming to scream in the indignity of it all as did another voice. The Demon lord opened his eyes at the sound of that ear-splitting scream, one he knew all too well, though he hoped…he _begged _it not to be true.

Moving backwards swiftly, Inu-no-Taishou turned to see Kagome running towards him, bow in hand. And his eyes widened at her presence. _What is she doing here? _ Inu-no-Taishou didn't answer, could only stare dumbly at the cloaked figure before him, who was clutching its hand, the flesh turning fuchsia around the wound the purification arrow had created. With a sneer, the creature yanked the arrow out, and tossed it aside carelessly, rounding on Inu-no-Taishou once more. "Do you really think that the 'Leader of the Revolutionaries' would really be so _foolish _as to leave themselves out in the open for the _Great Dog-demon's _attack? Of course not, you have forgotten who you are dealing with…" That smooth voice assaulted his mind once more, and he felt Kagome tense beside him, holding a second arrow to her bow, the metal tip emitting an otherworldly pink light that made his skin hum.

"You are the Revolutionary leader?" Inu-no-Taishou asked, casting a glance to the two dead substitutes on the floor. Though he already knew the answer.

Those cruel lips turned to smirk at him once more.

"Indeed, _My Lord_ – _I _am the leader of the Revolutionaries – your enemy…"

"I do not even know who you are!" He insisted angry as well as frustrated now, he just couldn't understand why someone he'd never even _met _would hate him and his family so much. _Master, no…_ Inu-no-Taishou regarded the sword for a moment as it whispered in his ear once more, confused. _That's-_

"But you _do _know me, _My Lord_," the voice of the hooded demon came again, still smooth and indecipherable, and yet he recognised it…somehow. With those final words still lapping at the Demon lord's senses, long, delicate hands came out to seize the hood slowly. They paused there a moment, prolonging the mystery, until the hands tugged the dark material back slightly off the demon's head, and revealing pale flesh and platinum hair swept back out of the demon's face. Haunting eyes stared at him, bearing a past he knew all to well. Framed with a ghostly beautiful face he knew all too well.

"It cannot be," Inu-no-Taishou all-but whispered, though his voice bore significant doubt. Kagome just looked confused, though never lowered her arrow. "You-" But he cut off at those rose-petal lips curved into a foreboding smirk. The crescent moon on the demon's forehead seemed to capture his attention, as if daring it to be true. But he knew, somehow that it was – even Sou'unga recognized the truth in what stood before them, as their enemy.

Kagome gnawed her lip, never tearing her eyes away from her opponent, though speaking to Inu-no-Taishou. "But this is-" She ceased her speech as Inu-no-Taishou nodded, his breathing heavier than before. It was a moment before he spoke, but when he did, it was weighted, and almost confused.

"Sesshomaru's mother…" Kagome's eyes widened as she took in the woman's countenance once more, there was no mistaking the likeness. If ever there was a female version of Sesshomaru, this was it – his mother, who was supposed to be dead. And she was the Revolutionary leader.

"Come now, may I not be introduced your Half-breed's whore by my own name? The name I was given, and the name you once spoke so gently and warmly when you asked for my hand?" The cold playfulness in her voice sent a shiver down the priestess' spine, but this was nothing to the uneasiness that crept up inside her as she watched Inu-no-Taishou simply stare at this woman, confused, as if he still couldn't believe it.

When Inu-no-Taishou seemed like he wouldn't respond, the demoness looked at Kagome once more, shedding the dark cloak, allowing it to tumble to the earth and expose a pearl-white kimono, and shoulders dressed in fur similar to Sesshomaru and Inu-no-Taishou's. "Sachinatsu," she said at last with false courteousness.

"But you…you were supposed to have-"

"-Died, Lord Inu-no-Taishou?" she finished for him, still smirking, "Do not be ridiculous, then again, you were too concerned with your mortal wench to _care _whether I was dead or not."

"But I…I buried you!" he replied, a hint of desperation in his words. "You were dead!" The woman shook her head playfully.

"No, not exactly…" she paused, staring into her ex-mate's eyes. "You did not know, did you? That I knew what you were doing… With that human _princess_…using her as your whore! Going to _her _and giving her half-breed whelps when I was your mate and could have given you _pureblood _pups! Did you hate your mate and son that much?!"

The question rang in their ears, and it was for the first time in a long while, that Inu-no-Taishou lowered his head slightly, silver hair hanging into his eyes and disguising the look within them from Sachinatsu. "I have never hated either of you," he replied quietly, though honestly. "I loved you both-"

"But you were _in _love with _her_!!!" The woman screamed indignantly, raising her voice for the first time. "You committed adultery with a human! DO have ANY idea how HUMILIATING that is?! A human, and _my _mate-"

"-I admit, the way I went about it was wrong, but you must understand," Inu-no-Taishou began, "I cared for you, and I had no desire to hurt you in that way." The woman sneered at him, completely ignoring Kagome's presence by now.

"And discovering the man I loved in the arms of a woman who was so _intolerably _less important than I-"

"-Silence you rlies!" Inu-no-Taishou hissed, finally raising his eyes to her, fury now brewing within them. "Do no play the 'wronged woman' with _me_! I did love you – unconquerably so, and I loved our son, but you were _poison _from the very beginning. You flattered me and offered feigned claims of love and fidelity when in reality you were always nothing more than a treacherous _bitch_." Kagome looked at the Demon lord, then at Sachinatsu, as if deciding who she felt more sympathy for, but she didn't understand what had happened, how could she, when they were talking in riddles?

Sachinatsu stared at him in mock horror. "I was _always _a faithful mate to-"

"-Do not lie!" Inu-no-Taishou barked. "Your attempts to try and sway my opinions regarding half-breeds and humans were _countless_… And when they failed you would send your private guards to slaughter a mortal village in the night – slay innocent travellers and disguise the attacks as a work of the enemy," he paused, staring into haunting pools of gold, no longer confused or unsure. "When all the time it was _you _who was the enemy…"

Kagome lowered her bow slightly, still staring at her mate's father with bewilderment. It would seem he was to blame in all of this, but to be tied to a woman who betrayed you at every turn, who killed innocent people and deceived him – and then blamed it all on him, how heavy a burden must that have been to bear for the centuries before she'd evidently faked her own death?

"When I asked for your hand, I believed you to be the most gentle and kindest of creatures, but you turned out to be like everybody else, and you betrayed me, just like everybody else…" Sachinatsu smirked at Inu-no-Taishou's words, though said nothing in return. "And when our son was born, I thought you would change, that I would see more of the woman you once were – but as I watched him grow, I watched you steal him away from everything good and just that I tried to teach him, and taint him with your own poisonous thoughts. And I realised then, that the woman I once saw you as was nothing more than an illusion, as was the person I fell in love with – _this_," he said, gesturing to her person, "_you _were _never _the woman I loved."

"Poison?" Lady Sachinatsu repeated, "Just? He was _my _son and even if you were a simpering mortal-loving _fool _I would not have my son stoop as low as to lick the boots of _humans_!" It was on Inu-no-Taishou's lips that the smirk appeared this time.

"But he was better than that – better than your sardonic views – he loves his half-demon brother, and is mated to a _human _girl. The heir to the Western lands and your grandchild will be a half-demon just like you despise." The demoness sneered again at his words.

"Then these accusations of 'poison' and 'treachery' are your reasons for why you stole Sesshomaru away at every moment? Why I was barely able to _see _him?"  
"He made the decisions by himself – I cannot steal something that did not wish to be stolen-"

"-You took him to see HER – To see your WHORE! You introduced MY pup to that human BITCH! Did you think he would not tell me?" Inu-no-Taishou did not answer right away, but when he did, it was once again weighed down by guilt.

"I should have realised he would have followed me to Izayoi eventually, and when he did what would have had me say? He was not pup – he was a man, and I told him the truth, of course – that my love for you had been a fleeting fantasy of my heart, and that Izayoi was the woman I now – and shall _ever _love…" He was looking at her closely again, even though the space between them was great. "But what I do not understand was why you faked your own death." At this, that same foreboding grin reappeared on the Lady's lips.

"You met _Princess Izayoi _when she was – what? Fourteen? Wasn't that the human number for her age at the time?" Inu-no-Taishou nodded slightly, evidently the more civil of the two of them, even though the demoness practically spat venom at the utterance of Izayoi's name. "And it was seven years after that, that you gave her that foul half-blooded child and mated with her – and that you refused to give her up – even my attempts to seduce you back to my bed instead of her were useless… But it was five years after you met her, that I devised a plot for what I was to do, with you…"

"So you faked your own death and watched from the shadows as this…masked revolutionary leader for over two-hundred years?" Kagome asked, causing Sachinatsu to turn her head to look at her with utmost disgust. "And all that time you were still so…so angry at him? You were doing all these horrible things to him – to your own son after all these years-"

"-SILENCE!" The Demoness all-but screamed, "What would a mortal creature such as yourself know of _my _pain-"

"-I know that it must have been hard for the man you loved to go to another woman but-"

"-Do not kid yourself, Kagome," Inu-no-Taishou interrupted her softly; "She was in love with my title and my lands, not me – never me."

"Nevertheless," The Priestess continued, "How could you expect _anyone _to love someone who killed innocent people – who betrayed you and held such contempt for _everything_? Lord Inu-no-Taishou may have been wrong to sneak around behind you back, but despite everything, he cared about you – and despite everything, _you _are the one that is wrong."

Sachinatsu was livid. Her fingers clenched, grating into her palms and causing blood to shiver to the ground. "You have _no _idea – and as for my _son_, he was a filthy blood-traitor if _ever _there was one. When I revealed myself to him what did he do but run straight back to his father to tell him what I'd seen – he went back to fight with his father _against _me. He forsook my kindness and the right to call me _'Mother' _when he loved and coddled that half-demon brat, and played 'step-son' to that mangy human-"

"ENOUGH!" Inu-no-Taishou's movements and voice was so abrupt that it made Kagome jump back in surprise. He surged forwards, clawed fingers seizing Sachinatsu's throat, causing the woman to slam back hard into the wall behind, under his mercy. "Enough of this childish name-calling – Lady Izayoi was more than you will _ever _be."

"You say that, but I am not the one who died like a whimpering beast-"

"STOP IT!" The pressure on her windpipe grew, and she winced as she struggled for breath, though still with that sick grin crossing her features.

_Master – Master NO! _"Goodnight," Sachinatsu began, her soft words overpowering Sou'unga's in Inu-no-Taishou's mind, "_'Dearest'…_" Within that short moment, Kagome's eyes widened, her throat tearing under the force of her scream, and Inu-no-Taishou's grip on Sachinatsu's throat receded, as he crumpled to the floor, his own sword in his stomach. The Demoness stared down at him with some kind or morbid satisfaction, seizing the hilt of the blade once more, and pulling it out.

"So this is the sword that was forged to protect Izayoi?" she asked herself aloud, glancing at the silver blade as she swung it this way, then that, admiring its precision and speed. "Sou'unga –bow down to your new mistress…"

"HEY!" Sachinatsu raised her eyes slowly, and carelessly gazed upon the obsidian-haired-girl that stood now far off, an arrow pulled tight back against her bow. "I'll kill you." That was all Kagome could think of at the time, but now, as a human priestess put against a powerful demoness, she found her words a little foolish, and lacking in the confidence to make it sound convincing. As predicted, Sachinatsu merely smirked, advancing towards her with Sou'unga in hand.

"I think not, little human, it is _you _who will be the one to fall."

Kagome felt her heart hammer. Her fingers released their hold to the arrow and it shot forwards. The Demoness dodged it, and Kagome's eyes widened as Sou'unga descended upon her. She rolled forwards, beneath the blow and ran towards the head of the room. Her breath stung her lungs as she snatched up the sword that had fallen from one of the dead guards' hands, and spun to face Sachinatsu. Too late. Sou'unga swung at her, biting into her side, and causing her to seize it with a tortured cry, as she dropped to her knees, waiting for the end to come.

"Look at me," Sachinatsu demanded venomously, and the Priestess raised her head, tears stinging her eyes as she gazed up at her soon-to-be murderer. "So like Izayoi," she goaded, "another dead girl to add to list of forgotten names… YOU-" She punctuated the last word by slicing a thin gash across Kagome's cheek, admiring her work as the wound wept blood. But Kagome dared not raise her hand to stop it. "-You will go to neither heaven nor hell, instead you shall wander between worlds – forever damned, just as that little fool Izayoi will, and all mortal whores that mix beyond their species." Kagome flinched, her body clenching, awaiting the blow, the sword came down upon her, it seemed to be happening much slower than it actually was, and then, it stopped.

Sachinatsu stared at the sword in confusion, as her arm held fast, not moving in either direction, mere inches from cleaving Kagome's skull in two. "W-What? What is this trickery?" The Demoness asked, almost panicked. _I serve, only __**one **__master – Sachinatsu._ The voice rang loud and clear throughout the room, and Kagome and the woman looked swiftly to Lord Inu-no-Taishou, who scrambled to his feet with no small amount of difficulty. _Did you seriously think that a sword forged from The Great Lord Inu-no-Taishou's fang could ever be used to take his life? Impossible. _

"But this is – this is-" She struggled for words, enraged, staring with horror at the demon who pressed his shoulder against the wall in order to keep himself standing. He smirked hazily at her through the blood and pain. "-This is-"

Kagome looked quickly from Inu-no-Taishou to Sachinatsu, and at that moment she seized an arrow from the quiver on her back, and thrust it upward, into the cold heart of the Demoness before her. "This…is-"

"-_Over_," Kagome finished for her, as the eerie fuchsia aura spread from the tip of the arrow, tainting pale skin with the otherworldly glow. Sachinatsu screamed. Sou'unga dropped from her hand, landing to the floor with a resounding clang. It was then, that it was Sachinatsu, who fell to her knees before a human woman, and it was that human woman that was the last thing she saw, before she toppled sideways, eyes fading to black, and she saw no more.

A long while passed the two in the hall then, staring at the dead, purified corpse of the once Great Demoness Sachinatsu. It took Kagome a while o work up the courage to speak, and when she did, it was not what she'd meant to say. "You were in love with her weren't you? Before Lady Izayoi, I mean." Inu-no-Taishou nodded sadly.

"She was my everything and anything, a beautiful dream brought to life, but then," he stumbled over to her, the Priestess leaping to her feet to steady him when he nearly collapsed once more. "Like all dreams," he continued, "we must at some time, awaken from them, and I fear, the part of Sachinatsu I fell for, was nothing more than a dream…" Kagome stared at him, watching as he pulled away from her assistance and stooped to seize Sou'unga, and slide it back to its place at his side as he relied on her shoulder to steady him once more.

"Didn't Sesshomaru tell you it was his mother that was the Revolutionary leader?" Kagome asked, again, knowing this wasn't really what she wanted to ask him. And again Inu-no-Taishou just shook his head.

"My Eldest son is strange at times, but above everything, he holds to his sense of honour, and faithfulness. He may have hated his mother for what she attempted to do to a brother he now loves more than almost anything in the world, but, despite that, he could not betray his own blood, to do that would betray his very soul – So when he discovered his mother, he came straight to me, and informed me of everything _but _who the Revolutionary leader was." At the confused look from Kagome, Inu-no-Taishou smiled. "As I said, my Eldest son is strange at times."

With a final glance back, the two came to the silent conclusion that they had spent quite enough time around death, and the Demon lord allowed the Priestess to support him as they made their way out of the castle. Whilst descending the stairs (with great difficulty) Kagome gnawed her lip, and once again, her next words were not what she'd wanted to ask. "Lord Inu-no-Taishou? How do you think Sesshomaru will react when he finds out I was the one who…killed his mother?" That calming and at the same time unnerving gaze regarded her closely once more and she distracted herself from it by helping him off the stairs and onto the landing.

"If I know Sesshomaru, he will not react at all," he said, again with a smile, leaning a little more onto their shoulder as he felt his limbs start to go numb from blood loss, and she (not knowing his plight) helped him out into the cool night air.

Dusk had just fallen, and even through his wounded state, Inu-no-Taishou still nearly jumped when he saw two large, crimson eyes staring at him in the night. "This is Kilala," she said with a smile, "She'll take us back to the camp."

"Indeed," Inu-no-Taishou replied, "I imagine your pups are crying for you by now. How was it exactly that you regained such power after their birth?" A small sigh uttered from Kagome at this, and he climbed on first, offering her a hand up onto Kilala's back afterwards.

"It's a long story…"

It was only when they were far away from the forsaken castle, and descending slowly from the clear night skies upon their camp somewhere far below, that Kagome managed to find herself, and force out what she had been meaning to ask since Sachinatsu's death. "Is it…is it true what she said…about Lady Izayoi? Is she really…can she go to neither heaven nor hell?" At this Inu-no-Taishou regarded her closely once more, not for the first time confused at her concerns. The night air whipped silver and obsidian hair around their faces as Kilala descended, the camp in sight, little pinpricks of light from the fires offering some disembodying warmth. Though still Inu-no-Taishou did not answer her question.

TBC

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Meanings:

Sachinatsu -- I made it up myself since officially she doesnt have a name - even in the manga. I created it from 'Sa' (Blossom), 'Chi' (Thousand) and 'natsu' (summer). So if ya want to combine them all to make a meaning, I'm saying it means 'the blossoms of a thousand summers' - **if ya wanna borrow this name, please ask me** ^_^

A/N: DUM DUM DUM DUM! Was anybody expecting that? XD Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that it has not kept you waiting too anxiously...much ^_^ Anyways, **next chapter** is gonna be the **last chapter**, so I hope you are prepared for a few tears....from _me_ *sniffle* Jesus I'm gonna miss you all *sobs into laptop* But never mind, since I have enjoyed working on this, and hearing from you wonderful readers, and I will be updating the sequel to my story 'Smoke' soon, so if you like Sess and Inu getting along and the Inuyasha and Kagome pairing, please check that one out, so that when I update the sequel you can read that too *Chu* R&R PLEASE ^_^

Shigure-san

x chuu x


	21. 21 Sunlight’s Radiance of the Beginning…

Author's Note:

Well here we are, Chapter 22, the last and final chapter of this fic. This story started on Wednesday 14th December 2005! At first this was just some piece of crap I commited to paper to get it out of my head, but when I posted you guys really liked it, and it made me want to work even harder on it. And now, here we are on the final installment of it, and I cant believe how things turned out. Each and every one of you really made a big difference, so I'll take this time to thank you for all the time you spent reading/reviewing or in some cases even emailing me. It means alot to someone who the only thing they believe they can do is write. You've raised my confidence and made me smile over this time, so I'm kinda sad that its now over. However, if some of you would like to read something vaguely similar, try my story 'Smoke' which is an InuxKag pairing but also Sesshomaru and Inuyasha get along in it so you'll probably like it ^_^ Its complete and in a few short weeks I hope to be posting the sequel to it, so keep watching my profile to see if anything new pops up, K? *hugs you all to death* Thank you so very mcuh for everything!

**Dedicated to All the Reviewers of this fic!**

Enjoy, I hope you're satisfied with the ending, and please leave a nice review ^.^

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Sunlight's Radiance of the Beginning…

Twenty-One

The sun brandished its rays across the lush grass, the long blades swaying slightly in the breeze as it swept across the sheltered glade. The trees' branches spread slightly over the clearing, leaving the lustrous light of the sun flitting beautifully through the large breaks. The sound of water ran nearby, depicted only to those with _more-than-human _hearing abilities, however it could not have been far off, as the noise (even to human ears) was barely covered by the peaceful song of the invisible birds that nested overhead somewhere beneath the concealment of the leaves. Kagome sighed as she stared up at the branches, knowing what was there, and what feathered families had hidden themselves within the depths of the branches. And she smiled, because she knew, that she and her family didn't have to hide any longer…

Bouncing the tired baby boy gently in her arms, Kagome ran her fingers soothingly through lengthy silver locks. Dark lashes fluttered against his crimson-crested cheeks, and he stared up at his mother wide round golden eyes, as if questioning her as to why they were here. She smiled, brushing a kiss to his forehead as she turned towards the presence she sensed lurking behind her in the concealment of the trees' shadows. "Thought you'd be here," the figure said, not fully visible yet, but she knew who it was nonetheless. She did not respond, merely set her son in the small basket-bed beside his sister, who was dozing under the warmth of the sun's rays. The Priestess tucked the swaddling cloth round them gently, before returning her gaze to the intricately carved stone of the grave before her.

The grey-white of the stone looked almost sadly beautiful under the gentle warmth of the sunlight, the engraved letters pristine and perfect, marking out the name of the person who lay beneath the dirt before it, as did the three graves that lay alongside it. Her fingers ghosted over each curve of the Japanese lettering, and she smiled sadly as she felt that figure's presence almost directly behind her. "You haven't been here since we had their bodies committed to these graves." Kagome nodded, casting a quick glance to her pups, watching the figure's hand play idly with her son, who smiled at the person, seizing a clawed finger in his own tiny fist.

"I am happy they're here now…it's so beautiful here, and peaceful…they deserve to be laid to rest somewhere so special, alongside my father. But…"

"'_But'_?"

"I put it off for as long as I could….I wasn't ready to say goodbye before…"

"And you are now?" She nodded, hazel eyes gazing over the names slowly.

"I loved them, and I'll never stop loving them but…I'm ready to stop _mourning _them…and move on, into the rest of my life, where so many more people I love are still alive."

A clawed hand came to rest on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. She sighed again, watching the other's free hand trace the lettering just as she'd done a moment before. "How did your father die anyway?" She shrugged before answering.

"Like all men do in a demon slayer's village – in battle." Kagome cast her eyes on the neighbouring graves, mourning the deaths of her father, mother, brother and grandfather one last time, before she leant back into the warmth of the body behind her.

Strong arms embraced her tightly, and she smirked as she felt him nuzzling the hair at the back of her neck gently, taking in her scent. Suddenly he froze, wincing, and she turned to face him swiftly. "Are you alright, Inuyasha?" The Half-demon offered her a toothy grin, one clawed hand clasping his chest slightly.

"Fine…old wounds…or, new wounds more accurately – it's taking longer to heal because I lost so much blood, but I'll be fine sooner or later." She smiled almost scolding, shaking her head slightly.

"Well you know it'd heal a lot quicker if you'd just _rest_."

"Keh, with so many repairs to do around the castle and the lands in general? How can I just sit on my ass? Sesshomaru was in much worse shape than me and _he's _still doing the brunt of the work – with _one _arm!" Kagome sighed, gathering herself to her feet and lifting the basket with the two small infants inside carefully.

"Yeah, and Rin's not too pleased with that either – what's she gonna do if he seriously hurts himself? A pregnant girl needs pampering you know?" Inuyasha almost laughed, getting to his feet, trying not to imagine what Sesshomaru pampering _anyone _would be like.

"I think he's still amused at the thought of what his mother might have said to his _half-demon _offspring being the future heirs to the Western lands." Inuyasha himself could not helped but smirk at the thought, of a time when a half-demon like himself would be in control of his father's lands, though in all honesty, he (along with everybody else) hoped that day would never come. Not because of uprisings or lack of equality – indeed, all ideals that the revolutionaries held seemed to be completely quashed now without a leader. Half-demons, after thousands of years, had finally seized equality, and understanding – and a place in demonic society that wasn't below their full-bloodied relatives. Indeed, should Sesshomaru's future son or daughter ever take over, it was almost assured that there would be little or no friction.

True, a few demons still held prejudice against anything less than demon, though they were few in number, and after the Great War between Lord Inu-no-Taishou and his sons, and the Priestess, Demon Slayer and Monk that followed them willingly alongside thousands of demons, humans and half-breeds alike had assured that _no one _would be foolish enough to attempt anything any time soon. You would not be considered merely optimistic if you said that the New law that had begun so much for the two in the glade had been set, and would _never _be challenged again. The reason no one wished for the time when Sesshomaru, or even his approaching child would ascend to the throne, was because that would mean the death of Lord Inu-no-Taishou, which they were pleased to say, had been put off once more, as he continued to recover rapidly (and well) from his battle-sustained wounds.

"Funny how they always said my Old-man was going soft, but the only way they could hurt him was to stab him in the back – literally." Kagome smiled at her mate, pausing to watch him pluck their son out of the basket and into his arms, making the basket considerably lighter, as they departed from the clearing.

"Where're Sesshomaru and your Father today?" Inuyasha shrugged this time, allowing his still unnamed son to tug playfully at his hair.

"Sesshomaru was on call for some village who was hit during the attack, and last I saw father he was being mauled by some small demon_ squirts_ who wanted to hear the story of 'The Great War'." Kagome laughed slightly.

"Is that what they're calling it now?" The Half-demon nodded with a smirk.

"But you know they don't really wanna hear that part – they wanna know the mushy 'heroic stuff'." Kagome raised her thoughtful gaze to the white clouds in the perfect-blue sky.

"Yeah," agreed Kagome, "the tale of how Lord Sesshomaru resurrected his younger brother and everyone else on the battlefield with a single swing of Tenseiga will be told for generations to come." Inuyasha offered her his best half-hearted scowl.

"Sure, reiterate the bit where I _died_," he teased as they approached the castle ahead, both smiling at the figures poised expectantly in the doorway, awaiting their return. "It seems to me that that kid Shippo that hangs around with Sango is awful keen on the part where _Lord Inuyasha _rescues his family from the clutches of the revolutionaries." Kagome couldn't help but giggle a little at how pleased with himself he sounded,

"Yes, it was very brave, just like out of a feudal fairytale."

They were lost to silent pensiveness for a moment, as they approached the steps of the castle, the figures of their family that had been awaiting them heading down to meet them. Rin smiled, cradled her bulging stomach slightly, as she reached them along with the others. "Get back inside in your condition, ya crazy wench," Inuyasha scolded, though not quite as gruffly as he might have liked. "Sesshomaru will go ape-shit if you fall over." Rin frowned at him, as Inu-no-Taishou who stood at her side plucked his now awake granddaughter from the basket and into his arms (careful of his amour).

"Ridiculous, as if I would let her fall over," The Demon lord said, not looking at his son but at the beaming little girl in his embrace, "Intend to have _a lot _more grandchildren from _both _of you boys before anything happens."

"Nothing is going to happen," assured the Monk who descended the stairs alongside his demon slayer wife, the kitsune and their neko friend Kilala. "Kohaku has sent us word from the newly rebuilt slayer's village, even as far as their neck of the woods everything is as it should be. I believe we will not face a danger as great as _that _for a long time."

"If ever," Sango continued, regarding her sisterly-friend's new family with a warm gaze.

As the series of complaints from Inuyasha died down at the boy tugging his hair harder than ever, (evidently trying to get attention), the older Half-demon turned as long, gentle fingers rested on shoulder. "Here you take him," he griped (though again, only half-heartedly). Lady Izayoi embraced her grandson with the kind of warmth that she offered anyone, and everything, rubbing downy ears in soft circles before raising her gaze to her half-demon son. "We would do well to get Lady Rin inside, Sesshomaru is nearly home. If he sees us keeping his mate waiting on the mat he might sulk again." Inuyasha looked over his mother's shoulder, and sure enough, Sesshomaru was striding towards them, it apparent that he was displeased with them all standing in the 'cold' from the expression on his usually impassive face.

"I told you to remain inside," Sesshomaru said as he reached them at last, regarding his mate closely. Rin raised a thinly arced brow.

"And I told you to stop being a bully," she said with an almost taunting smile, temporarily silencing the Heir to the Western Lands on the subject.

"Here father," said Sesshomaru, moving to pass the Tenseiga back to his father, though Inu-no-Taishou shook his head. "But I have resurrected any killed by the revolutionaries during the battle – you can have it back now." The Demon lord bounced his granddaughter slightly in his arms, before meeting Sesshomaru's gaze once more.

"Inuyasha has Tetsusaiga for his own reasons, and I give you Tenseiga, because I think that you are the one most suited for it." Inuyasha scoffed at the notion.

"Yeah right…. The _'Sword of the Heaven's' belong _to _Sesshomaru_? I think Sou'unga would be best suited to him," Sesshomaru looked at his brother, his expression unreadable. Inu-no-Taishou smiled.

"Sou'unga has learnt its place – at my side, and it will stay in that place until I die, after which, it will disappear from this world forever. It defended Kagome in my place against Sachinatsu," his gaze flickered to Sesshomaru briefly as he mentioned his mother's name, though his oldest son remained unfazed, "however it is still treacherous, and if it were not fated to die when my body withers away, then it would have slaughtered Kagome willingly – had she not been my last hope for survival." As if to reassure himself that she was now safe, Inuyasha curled his arm round his mate's waist, squeezing her gently against his side.

"Why did Sachinatsu betray you?" Kagome asked, each member of the party regarding her as if she were mad. "No, really I mean, you say she hated humans and their half-demon children, and I get that that is what initially started this all off but…why did she hate them so much?" Inu-no-Taishou sighed heavily, opening his mouth to speak, though Sesshomaru was the one who answered her.

"Like a lot of pure-blooded demons, she was powerful and beautiful and she knew it," he said simply, "Demons live forever, Kagome, and forever is a long time. But humans, their lives are as fleeting and fragile as anything on this earth – so easily broken and snatched away – _that _is what makes your kind more beautiful than ours, and that is why my Mother detested humans so. Humans are weaker than us, but are in no means _lacking_, and that is what she couldn't understand. Her initial dislike of half-demons, I am afraid did not stem until Inuyasha was conceived."

"And that was worse," Lady Izayoi added, surprising them all with her dulcet tones. "That a half-demon – one who belonged to neither world, but possessed both the beauty of humans, and power and immortality of demons, he was to be born to someone she considered very much hers – her _possession_, and the potential of me giving birth to something that would outshine her so thoroughly…" She trailed off, the fleeting, thoughtful silence that fell quashed swiftly by Sesshomaru finishing what she could not – _would _not say.

"Her selfish, conceited heart could not bear it, so she planned on revenge, against Father, me, Lady Izayoi and on Inuyasha."

"Now stop that Pup!" Inu-no-Taishou scolded his granddaughter gently, as she seized fistfuls of the fur draped over his shoulders, determined to put it in her mouth. "Damn, give me a name to shout at this defiant little girl" he yelled playfully, Kagome smiling as she leaned forwards to pluck her daughter off Inu-no-Taishou's front. "She's got her father's feisty temperament," The Demon Lord laughed, causing Inuyasha to scowl. "But at least when Inuyasha misbehaved we knew what to yell at him."

"Ridiculous," Sesshomaru argued, "you spoilt him rotten. The very worst he ever received in terms of punishment was _'I shall tell your brother not to play with you anymore.'_" Inuyasha flushed to the roots of his hair, thumping his brother on the arm.

"Asshole…" he grumbled.

"Have you still not thought of names for them yet?" Lady Izayoi asked, steering the conversation back to the two fussing pups. Kagome and Inuyasha looked to each other before answering.

"Well, we've been preoccupied lately," the Half-demon argued, "I died, _you _died, Sesshomaru's one arm down, Rin's pregnant and the West needs attention…" His words trailed off.

"Sound like excuses to me," Sango teased.

"Damn wench…" The Slayer shook her head in dismay.

"Perhaps being brought back to life with the Tenseiga has addled your brain, Good friend," Miroku joked, gesturing to Inuyasha's head. The Half-demon swatted his hand away.

"Shut up, Mother has been brought back using it _twice _now and she's fine," he argued.

"Indeed, but she was not so over-the-top _either _of those times she died." Inuyasha flushed in irritation. "You were being a little melodramatic-"

"-_Me? _You were the one who _cried_!"

"This Sesshomaru does not cry-"

"I take it that's a _'no we haven't got them names yet' _then?" Miroku asked.

"Kagome is way too fussy with names," the Half-demon retorted.

"Excuses, Excuses…" Rin muttered under her breath, joining in with teasing the poor half-demon.

"Hey, we are at a _slight _disadvantage – there is one more than there should be. Besides I ain't the most _literary _of people you know?! If anything its _Kagome's _fault we haven't found names for them yet."

"Actually, I have thought of some…" Kagome's words drew everyone's attention to her, and she shifted uncomfortable under the weight of their gaze. "Well, it was just an idea… If you don't like it we could-"

"-Geez, wench," Inuyasha sighed, "they're your pups too, believe it or not that qualifies as an excuse to have a _say _in the matter." She smiled at his attempt at reassuring her, looking from her daughter in her own arms, to her son in Izayoi's embrace.

"Well, I was thinking for a little while, since nothing seemed to fit them but… what about, _Haruki_?" she suggested, gesturing to the little girl who was smiling up at her contently. "As in _'Sunlight radiance'_." Inuyasha looked as if he wasn't going to say anything for a moment, until he brushed the backs of his fingers down the girl's cheek, smirking as she seized it immediately with her clawless fingers.

"I like it," he answered, considering the name a he gazed at his daughter. "It suits her."

"Ironic in my opinion," Sesshomaru muttered, "the child is a little devil, just like her troublesome father…" Inuyasha ignored him.

"And what about for this little guy?" The Half-demon asked his mate, inkling his head slightly to their son. "He still gonna be called 'Pup'?" Kagome shook her head.

"Well, what about 'Hajime'?" At this, Inuyasha looked confused.

"'_The Beginning'_? The beginning of what?" There was a short silence between the rather odd 'family' as the Priestess regarded each of them before she found her voice once more.

"He was the beginning of our _own _family. And _this _is the beginning of the rest of our lives, without anyone else to tear us apart. The beginning of the rest of forever." Inuyasha smirked.

"'_The beginning of forever'_?" he repeated, "I like it."

~Owari~

-The End-

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Meanings (_Note: Name meanings vary depending on how they're written in kanji_:

Haruki -- From 'Haru' (sun/sunlight)and 'ki' (radiance)

Hajime -- Beginning

Owari - The End

A/N: WAH! *sniffle* I can't believe its over... On the original file this is a total of 243 MS Word pages ^_^ Anyway, I hope you liked the ending, its like the end of an era now, I sometimes drifted for a while but I always came back to give ya more XD Neways, I still have loads of fics going, hopefully you will like at least one more of them, as I say, try 'Smoke' or the sequel which will be added here soon. Hope at see ya reviewing some of my other stuff XD See ya!

Shigure-san

x chuu x


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